The Power
by Firestorm
Summary: A young girl comes to stay with the Ronins, and Talpa wants her and the power she has. I had to redo this a little because a chapter was lost. Please R.R.R R.R for reread Sorry!
1.

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The Power

Yeah before I forget, I don't own the Ronin Warriors. I do own the girl and her pet. Steal them, and be sorry for the rest of your life!

Chapt.1. The News.

"Ryo." No answer. "Ryo." Still no answer. "RYO!"

Ryo Sanada jerked away from the television, and turned to face Mia Koji, the keeper of the manor where he and the other four Ronin Warriors lived. She was staring down at him with a serious look on her face.

He sat up on the couch. "Yeah, what's up, Mia?"

"I'm going to be hosting an exchance student from America for a couple of months, Ryo. She's coming today."

"Today!" Ryo screeched. "I totally forgot! Oh, man!" He slapped his forehead.

Mia just laughed and tossed long auburn hair out of her face. "Ryo, relax. She won't be here until about 12:00 P.M. You've got plenty of time."

Ryo sighed. That was a relief, he thought. And then he thought of something else. They would have to get a room ready for her! He thought maybe one of the other guys would help him out there.

Mia was heading back into the computer room, when she suddenly paused, and turned around. "Oh, by the way, Ryo, she's bringing her wolf with her."

Ryo stood up, a bit perplexed and uneasy. "A wolf?"

"She sent a pic of it over the internet. A large white wolf with sapphire eyes. Very beautiful. It's as big as White Blaze." She went into the computer room.

Ryo groaned. White Blaze was his white Himalayan tiger. A very loyal and protective animal. He had helped the Ronin Warriors during their many battles with Talpa and the evil Warlords. I hope White Blaze and this wolf get along, he thought.

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	2. 

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The Power

Chapt.2. Preparing.

The others heard the news almost immediately. Sage Date was wondering what the girl would look like. He was the fliring king at the high school where he and the others went. He was always flirting with the girls, and they adored him. Rowen Hashiba could only hope she wasn't a total snob, or that she wouldn't tease him about his 250 IQ. He hated when people did that. Cye Mouri was hoping that she was a nice girl and wouldn't mind his cooking or his love for fish. He also hoped this girl wasn't a pig like Kento. Kento Rei Faun was thinking that the girl was probably a total snob, even if she did turn out to be a babe. She'd probably fall for Sage right away.

"Hey," Ryo called, "who wants to help me get her room ready?"

Rowen put his book down. "I'll help, Ryo." And the two of them went upstairs. Both Ronins fixed the room quite nicely. They weren't sure what the girl liked, but they hoped she liked the color blue. They added some pictures and paintings done by various artists, and could only hope the girl wouldn't mind.

"Think she'd like this one, Ryo?" Rowen asked, holding up a painting. It was a picture of a lady on a unicorn.

"I don't see why not, Ro. She's a girl. Girls like unicorns."

Rowen hung it up.

Downstairs Cye was busy thinking about what to fix for lunch. The girl was from America, and he was wondering if he should fix something America style, or Japanese style.

Sage saw the look in the young Ronin's face. He asked what was the matter, and Cye told him. After careful thinking the Warrior of Wisdom replied, "Make something both of American and Japanese foods."

Cye beamed happily. "That's perfect! Thanks, Sage! You're a big help, mate."

Sage laughed. "Don't mention it."

Kento smiled a little. He loved food, and he could not wait until lunch was done. But he still wondered about that girl. "Does anyone know how old this girl is?" he asked.

Sage and Cye glanced at each other and shook their heads. Mia overheard. "She's fifteen, Kento!"

"OK!" he hollered back.


	3. 

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The Power

Chapt. 3. The Arrival.

Mia looked at the time. The exchange student would landing at the airport in a half hour. Cye was getting lunch read, Sage was watching TV, Ryo was keeping Kento out of the kitchen, so that left Rowen who wanted to go with her.

"Hold the fort down, Ryo," Mia said as she and Rowen went out the door. "We'll be back as soon as we pick her up."

"Sure thing, Mia," Ryo said with a thumbs up. Mia and Rowen went out the door, and a few minutes later they heard Mia's jeep start up and drive away.

Sage turned away from the TV and looked toward Ryo who was playing with White Blaze. "Hey, Ryo, what do you think this girl looks like?"

"I don't know, Sage," Ryo answered as he straightened. He scratched his tiger on the ears, and the big cat purred happily.

"Well, I hope she's pretty," Sage said dreamily.

"You would, Cassanova," Kento muttered. Sage flipped him off, and Ryo snickered.

An hour later they heard the jeep. They heard talking. "The others are inside." That was Mia. "I hope they're not afraid of wolves." That had to be the girl. "Don't worry. They'll get used to him." That was Rowen. "I hope the tiger doesn't mind." That was the girl again.

"They're here!" Kento screeched. Sage covered his ears and shook his head as Kento flung the door open. Mia motioned for Kento to move and she stepped on through. The girl and a large white wolf came in next, each carrying a large duffle bag. Rowen came in nect, carrying the girl's suitcase. 

Cye came out of the kitchen, and stood, shocked, with Ryo, Sage, and Kento. Mia smiled. "Here they are."

They immediately introduced themselves. "Hi, I'm Ryo Sanada." "Hi, I'm Cye Mouri." "Kento Rei Faun." "And I'm Sage Date," he said winking at her. The girl smirked and shook hands with each of them. "Flash Michaels, put it there." She pointed down at her wolf. "And this is Blaze." The wolf barked and raised his paw to shake with them. Flash noticed the tiger coming near her. "And this must be White Blaze," she said, letting the tiger sniff her. She petted him, and White Blaze purred happily. And then wolf and tiger introduced themselves.

"I think they like each other," Mia said brightly.

Ryo beamed. "Let's get you settled, OK? Lunch will be ready in a few minutes. Cye's a great cook."

She smiled. "So is a friend of mine. Can't wait to be a tester." She smiled at Cye, and he blushed. She followed Ryo and Rowen up the stairs with her wolf following behind.

"Smart wolf," Kento commented.

"He was carrying a dufflebag!" Cye exclaimed.

Sage was thinking how pretty Flash was. She was tall, about 5'7, a tanned complexion, with cerulean eyes, and shoulder length brown hair. She wasn't too skinny, nor too fat. The other girls at the school sure would be jealous.

Lunch time came, and Flash did enjoy the meal. She was touched that these dear people would fix her type of food, but she also tried some of the Japanese as well.

"Tea?" Mia asked.

Flash shook her head. "I wish I could, but I can't. I'm allergic."

"Allergic to tea?" Ryo asked, a bit surprised.

Flash nodded, then shrugged as she cut some meat on her plate. "I know it's weird. But when I was much younger my mom gave me tea, and I got sick with a rash on my throat. Doctor's diagnosis, allergic to tea."

"You want some pop then?" Kento asked.

"Cola, if you have it."

"Coming right up!"

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	4. 

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The Power

Chapt.4. Wanted.

In another world known as the Dynasty, an evil being wearing an ancient samurai armor sat on his throne in the Dynasty's castle. His name was Talpa, and he was the ruler of this vast world. He had tried so many times to rule the mortal world, but the five Ronin Warriors kept standing in his way. He knew that they had to be defeated before he could take over the mortal world.

He had three warriors who were helping him. They were known as Dark Warlords. At one time they had been against him, but after a deceptive plot, they were now serving him once again. Along with Lady Kayura.

"Master Talpa," said Dias, Warlord of Illusion, "why are we having this meeting?"

"Yes," Sekhmet, Warlord of Venom complained. "I was watching King of Snakes on the SciFi."

"Silence!" Talpa demanded. They were quiet. Cale, Warlord of Darkness rolled his eyes. Talpa continued as his viewing screen came on. They saw an American teenaged girl with shoulder length brown hair and cerulean eyes. "My high priest Badamon has sensed something about this girl. She has powers that could be useful to the Evil Dynasty. It could be that she wears an armor."

"An armor?" Sekhmet asked, incredously. "Master Talpa, she's a girl. How can she wear an armor?"

"How can fifteen year old boys be wearing armors?" Talpa retorted, causing them to sweatdrop. "Speaking of which," Talpa continued, "when are you going to get my armors?"

"It's your armor," Cale mumbled. "You should go and get get it." Talpa zapped him. "OW, dang that hurt!"

"Shut up!" Cale gulped, but climbed to his feet.

"Now about this girl," Talpa continued. "I want you to capture her. Perhaps we can turn her to the evil Dynasty, and against the Ronins."

The three bowed before Talpa. "As you wish, Master Talpa." And they vanished from his presence.


	5. 

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The Power

Chapt.5. Dark Warlords

Back at Mia's mansion, Mia was once again working at her computer, and Yulie was outside with both White Blaze and Blaze. He had come over earlier, and met Flash and her wolf. Yulie liked Flash right away, and she liked him, cause he reminded her of a little boy she baby sat. Yulie had also fallen in love with the big white wolf, never before seeing a wolf of that size.

So while he was outside, playing, everybody else was doing homework, except Flash, who was watching TV. Kento looked up from his History page. "Cye, when are you going to make dinner?" he asked.

Cye's head shot up from his English book. "Oh, I totally forgot!" An unlikely Cye thing. "I have an English test tomorrow, so I wanted to study. I want to pass it."

Flash stood up. "I can make dinner."

Rowen arched one of his blue eyebrows. "You can cook?"

"Do you have blue hair?"

There was their answer. Flash disappeared into the kitchen. Kento's stomach growled loudly. "Hey, I bet they can hear that in America!" Flash joked from the kitchen.

Sage, Ryo, Rowen, and Cye snickered. "Very funny!" Kento mumbled.

"C'mon, Kento," Ryo said. "We have to finish our homework."

Kento grumbled, but turned back to his page. He didn't think he'd be able to finish his homework without getting some food into his stomach. It seemed to be crying out to him. Why are you torturing me? FEED ME!

It was quiet for several minutes as the five Ronins worked on their homework. It was Saturday, and they were working hard to get it done on time for school on Monday. Not that they actually wanted to work on it, well except for Rowen.

"Drat!" They heard Flash. "Pilot light went out!"

"There's a lighter in the second drawer to the left of the stove," Cye told her helpfully.

"No, thanks. Don't need it."

That puzzled them, and Rowen figured she had her own lighter. Seconds later, "There that's better!" They figured she had finally lit the stove.

They returned to their homework, frowning in concentration. Kento could hardly concentrate because of his growling stomach, and the others were just trying to ignore him.

Suddenly they heard Yulie screaming, and White Blaze roaring angrily, and Blaze growling and barking furiously. Everyone dropped what they were doing, including Flash who remembered to turn off the stove- don't want a fire now!- and raced outside.

Standing a few feet away from them were Cale, Sekhmet, and Dias. Yulie saw the Ronins and immediately hid behind Ryo.

"Who the heck are these clowns?" Flash asked.

"Dark Warlords."


	6. 

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The Power

Chapt.6. The Fight Begins.

"Dark what?" Flash asked with a shake of her head.

Cale stepped forward. "We've come for you, girl. Master Talpa requests your presence at once!"

"Master who?"

"Forget it!" Ryo snapped. "She's not going anywhere with you three!"

"We'll see about that, Wildfire!" Sekhmet laughed.

"Alright, time for a real show down," Ryo said. "Armor up! Armor of Wildfire! Dao Jin!"

"Armor of Torrent! Dao Shin!"

"Armor of Hardrock! Dao Gi!"

"Armor of Strata! Dao Inochi!"

"Armor of Halo! Dao Chi!"

Cherrry blossoms and rivers surrounded the five as their armors came to be. Flash was surprised, but not totally. I guess every country's got their own special warriors, she thought as she crossed her arms. Well, what the heck? She tilted her face to the sky and raised one arm. "Armor of the Warrior! Now come!"

A bright light enveloped her, and everyone but Sage and Blaze covered their eyes. When the light faded they were surprised to see Flash wearing a blue and white armor, with blue bracelets adorning her upper arms, white boots, a matching helmet, a visor covering her eyes, and carrying a deadly sword that looked part katana, part nodatchi. She flipped the large blade into the air and caught it with one hand.

"Surprised?" she asked.

"You- you're a Ronin Warrior too?" Kento stumbled to say.

Flash peered at them for a second as she watched the Dark Warlords. "Nope. I'm a Warrior, among seven others in America. Your armor probably have names as does ours, however we don't call our armors' names just to wear them. We simply say Armor of the Warrior. Now come. I'll explain the rest later. Right now, let's kick some butt!"

"Careful what you say, girl!" Cale hissed. "It could prove to be your downfall!"

"If I could defeat an ugly monster called Tutock and his Guardians, and soldierknights, I'm pretty sure I can handle you, Scar!"

"My name is Cale!"

"_Whatever_!"

"You'll pay for that! Black Lightning Slash!"

The attack struck, and the Ronins cried out, thinking she had been hurt. The Warlords were laughing, until they heard a whistle. Cale turned into the direction of the sound, and his face met with a white boot. He flew several feet backward.

"How did she do that?" Sage wondered. "Cale's surekill should have hit her. I'm glad it didn't, but…" He couldn't speak anymore.

"I guess that's why she's called Flash," Rowen stated the obvious.

"She definitely lives up to her name!" Ryo said with a laugh.

"You won't be laughing long, Wildfire!" Sekhmet said. Suddenly fifty Dynasty soldiers appeared, and the Ronins found themselves in battle.

Flash was proving herself to be quite the fighter. She had already taken out Cale, who refused to get up now. Now the girl was fighting with Dias, who tried to make an illusion to fool her. He had become Yulie, but when Blaze kept growling, she knew it was a trick.

"This is for being ugly!" she yelled as she popped him in the eye. "This is for wanting to kidnap me!" she punched him in the stomach. "This is for causing trouble for my friends!" she punched him in the nose, breaking it. "And this is for using Yulie as one of your tricks!" she kicked him very hard in the crotch, sending him flying into a nearby tree. He landed hard and immediately started puking.


	7. 

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The Power

Chapt. What The!

The Ronin Warriors were still fighting. Several soldiers were destroyed, and more were being taken out. Rowen shot several of them with his arrows, occasionally using his Arrow Shock Wave surekill. Ryo took out several with his Wildfire swords, also using his Flare Up Now surekill.

The soldiers were going down quickly, but more arrived to take their place. Cye wiped out several with his Yari spear, then blasted several away with his Super Wave Smasher surekill.

And Kento had fun destroying other Dynasty soldiers with his three part staff weapon. Kento loved to fight, and was enjoying every moment of it. More soldiers were coming. They needed to be buried. He used his Iron Rock Crusher, and the ground suddenly opened up and swallowed the soldiers.

Sekhmet was watching everything. He hadn't attacked yet. The girl had already taken out Cale and Dias which surprised him. How could one girl be that strong? he wondered as she and her wolf battled against the soldiers with the Ronins and their tiger. Mia had already grabbed Yulie and was keeping him indoors. No, he dared not to attack the girl physically. He would use strategy. 

He began to creep up to the nearest Ronin which was Rowen, ready to pounce on him, when suddenly something knocked him to the ground. Rowen turned around when he heard a cry and a scuffle. Blaze was pinning Sekhmet to the ground. He gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, boy!"

The wolf growled at Sekhmet, his teeth sharp and deadly. Sekhmet went to kick him, but Blaze quickly avoided it. Sage took out three more soldiers. Flash kicked one behind her, then ran her sword through another, destroying it. 

Sekhmet went to kick at the wolf again, and the wolf avoided it again.

Flash looked toward Sekhmet. "You shouldn't have tried to kick him!" she called.

Sekhmet glared at her, then glanced down at the wolf. "What the-!" The wolf was snarling now, his eyes were red, foam dripped from his mouth. He glared at Sekhmet with hunger filled eyes. "Now you're going to get it!" Flash taunted.

Sekhmet rolled his eyes, and he drew his blades. "We'll see about that!" he retorted. "Snake Fang Strike!"

The surekill struck and the wolf had been hit, but to Sekhmet's surprise, it barely had any effect. The wolf continued to growl angrily at him. "My surekill should have destroyed this wolf!"

Flash punched another soldier out, and Cye took care of the one sneaking in from the side. "Don't you know, wolves can heal themselves!" she hollered at Sekhmet.

Sekhmet was angry. He threw himself into battle and immediately attacked Cye. Cye was having a much harder time because Sekhmet was so angry, and Cye's armor was not good on land. Still he wasn't about to give up. He used his Yari spear to block Sekhmet's blows, then attacked back. He used his Super Wave Smasher against his opponent, knocking him several feet backward. He then noticed that Flash was not in her armor.

"Why are you out of armor?" he asked in concern.

"I'll tell you later," she promised.

Sekhmet stood up. He had also noticed that Flash was unarmored, and he wasn't about to let that go to waste. By now the other Ronins were just finishing off the rest of the Dynasty soldiers. Sekhmet stepped closer. "Good, now that you are unprotected, it's time to come and meet Master Talpa."

"I don't think so!"

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	8. Chapt. 8. Power Revealed

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The Power

Chapt. 8. Power Revealed. 

Everyone stared in shock and wonderment at the girl. A strange look had overcome her face. To their surprise it was starting to get warmer, and the heat quickly began to increase. Ryo immediately felt himself strengthening while Cye felt the opposite. He backed away toward the lake, getting strength from the cool water while he watched Flash in fascination.

She was sweating, breathing deeply, glaring at Sekhmet dangerously. A bright picture of a flame suddenly flared to life on her forehead, and the heat and energy cackled around her, causing her hair to blow freely. (note. I got this off of Steven King's Firestarter movie. Hope no one minds. I just thought it'd be cool.)

"What's going on?" Rowen wanted to know. He wiped his face, feeling the terrible heat.

Sage was incredibly hot. He dared to take off his helmet, and wiped his soaked hair. "Is she doing this?" he asked, fanning himself with one hand.

"Man, it's so hot!" Kento moaned. "Ryo, don't you feel it?"

"Yep, and it feels great!" Ryo beamed at him. The other four groaned, feeling the intense heat building and building.

"What is she doing" Sekhmet wondered. Is this the power that Talpa was talking about? "Foolish, girl! Your power cannot harm me!"

"Wanna bet?" she replied.

And then suddenly Sekhmet's arm was on fire. He screamed in surprise and pain, and desperately tried to put it out. But when he did, his knees caught on fire! He put that out, only to find his chest on fire!

"Whoa!" Kento exclaimed.

"So that's how she lit the stove," Sage said.

"She's got pyrokinesis," Rowen stated.

"Pyro what?" Ryo asked.

"Pyrokinesis," Rowen explained, "the ability to cause fires just by thinking about it. Ryo, I'm surprised _you_ didn't know that."

Ryo sweatdropped.

"That's some awesome power she's got," Cye stated.

Sekhmet tried using his surekill. "Snake Fang Strike!"

The blast flew at her, but it bounced right off! Flash narrowed her eyes, and then suddenly a fireball appeared and flew right at Sekhmet, knocking him several feet backward. He rolled several times to get the flames off before finally struggling to his feet. He stared at her in shock, then looked at his fallen comrades who were whimpering.

"No more!" Sekhmet gasped as he helped the other two up. "We give up!" A Dynasty Gate appeared, and they went throught it. The Gate closed and disappeared from view.

The Ronins were surprised. Never before had they seen the Warlords give up that easily. They shed their armors, and Flash returned to normal, as the heat faded away and everything went back to normal.

But there were still some questions, and Flash knew she would have to answer. But first they needed to get their homework, and she needed to finish dinner. So all of them went into the house, quickly explained to Mia what had happened while Yulie cheered, and then got back to what they had all been doing before the battle.


	9. Chapt. 9. Talpa's Promise

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The Power

Chapt. 9. Talpa's Promise

"What do you mean you failed!" Talpa roared angrily. The three warlords trembled as their master yelled at them. Talpa was ticked, very ticked, and it would only be a matter of time before something happened to one of them.

"Please, master, forgive us!" Cale quivered. "That girl is strong! She knocked me several feet away with just one blow!"

"Me too!" Dias moaned.

Talpa looked disbelievingly at them. He eyed Dias. "Why are you holding yourself?"

"That demonspawn kicked me there!" Dias spat. "It hurts! And you're right. She does have power."

"Ha!" Talpa laughed. "I knew it! What can she do?"

"Make fire," Sekhmet answered, holding his burnt arm and moaning. Need burn cream and advil, he thought.

"What do you mean make fire?" Talpa demanded. He sure was growing impatient. "Any human can make fire, you bakka!"

"Yes, but usually they need some device to do so," Sekhmet retorted. "She just stares straight ahead, it starts getting really hot, a symbol of a flame appears on her forehead, her hair starts blowing even though there's no wind, and before you know it, a fire appears."

Talpa was amused. "So that is the girl's powers. Most impressive indeed. Very well, rest for today, Warlords. I will make a plan to capture that girl. We will turn her to the Evil Dynasty and against the Ronin Warriors. One way or another, that girl and her power will both be MINE!!"


	10. Chapt. 10. Explainations.

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The Power

Chapt. 10. Explanations.

Ryo, Sage, Rowen, Cye, Kento, Mia, Yulie, White Blaze, and Blaze were all sitting in the living room. This is how it went. Rowen, Sage, Flash, and Cye were sitting on the couch. Ryo, Kento, Mia, and Yulie were sitting on the sofa across from them. And White Blaze and Blaze were lying side by side on the floor. All of them were staring very curiously at Flash, and Flash knew she had to tell.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," Flash said. Everyone nodded, but Mia and Yulie. Flash took a deep breath and released it. "About thirty five years ago, my grandmother found out that my mother had some kind of psychic power. She could make water freeze just by thinking about it. My mother was five years old at the time. Her power was out of control even if it was small. But as the years went by, and she got older she learned to harness it. But the time she was twenty two she married, gave birth a year later to my brother and a year after that I was born."

Flash took a drink of her soda while everyone waited for her to go on. "At first I seemed normal and acted just like any other baby. But when I started teething, it started happening. Things would just begin to smoke, and then suddenly there'd be a fire. My parents were frantic of course, and my father wanted to know what was going on. My mother could tell that there was something special about me. I was fascinated with fire and could play with it without getting burnt. My father was afraid and bought fire extinguishers and smoke alarms. As I got older the power grew inside of me, and it was out of control. If I got too excited, or too angry, or even too depressed, a fire would appear. So by the time I was five, my mother started training me how to control it."

Mia stared at their guest as she went on. She had never heard anything like this before! And yet, it seemed to be the truth, because according to the Ronins she had whipped all three Warlords by herself.

Yulie was fascinated. He had only thought that Ryo could make a fire appear in the Armor of Wildfire and in the Armor of Inferno. But this girl was saying she could do it without armors. Way cool!

"It was hard at first, and sometimes I would get impatient as my mother tried to help me. But then one day, when I was about eleven, I learned that my mother and brother had been kidnapped and killed. I found their dead bodies in a warehouse, and the killer was still there. I'll never forget that day. He told me that he was going to kill me and rape my dead body just like he had my mother's. That really got me mad. I set half of his face on fire, and even then I knew that I needed help. My father and I grieved over the loss of my mother and brother who always called me Firestarter, you know after that movie of Steven King's?" They all nodded, seeing the tears stream down her face. Apparently talking about her mother and brother was a very touchy subject.

"One day, when I was about fourteen, a year ago in fact, Blaze and I were traveling through the subway. I saw an elderly Japanese man and this other guy standing face to face, with a pistol aimed for the elderly man's throat. There were several guys out cold on the ground, and the last punk was going to shoot him. I set his hand on fire, and disappeared from the area. But the Japanese man saw me anyway. I heard him say Firestarter, and that struck me just a little odd. It wasn't until the next day that I found out who he was. His name was Chinook, and he had been searching for me, and seven others. He met with two others, calling them Storm and Fade. He met my father, and my father liked him. He came over a lot, and in private began training me. He trained me how to control my power and how to use it properly. He also told me, and the other two of our destinies. We were the Warriors, a group of teenagers destined to battle a great evil that was coming to America. Problem was, we couldn't fight until the other five had been found. Current, Shock, Hail, Heart, and Ataxia. "

"Are all of those armor names?" Sage asked.

"Yes," Flash said with a nod. "There was a legend in America, about three months before I learned of my destiny. It goes like this. 'A great evil has come to the Land of Freedom. It has one thing in mind, to destroy the world and rule it with an iron fist. Eight Chosen Ones are all that stand in its way. Together they rise to defeat this evil, knowing they are greatly outnumbered. Their armors have chosen them, and they gain strength from the elements. They stand strong together to defeat this evil and will triumph."

The Ronins were amazed by what they had learned so far. Mia's eyes grew wide. "I heard of that legend before! I was searching through my grandfather's files one day, and came across it by accident. I had no idea what it meant at first."

"The Legend of the Warriors. The eight of us gathered together to battle the evil, known as Tutock. He is a powerful sorcerer, and has power ten fold. At his command are eight warriors, called Guardians. They wear armors as well. There's also the soldierknights, huge things wearing armor with large spikes. They're a lot bigger and a whole lot more dangerous than those soldiers we were fighting against earlier."


	11. Chapt. 11. The Ronin Legend

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The Power

Chapt. 11. The Ronin Legend.

Talpa was in deep thought. Obviously this girl had a lot of power, in order to take out three of his warlords. He knew he would have to watch her closely and wait until his warlords became stronger to fight against her and capture her.

Just moments ago, he had sent the Dark Warlords to the netherpits so they would gain more strength from the dark spirits.

"Yes!" Talpa said with a laugh. "This time the Ronin Warriors will not stop me! I will have that girl and turn her against them so that they will be destroyed, and the world will be mine!"

"So what's you guys' story?" Flash asked, putting her hands behind her head. "That was some funky looking armor you were all wearing."

"Hey, you had an armor too!" Kento accused, pointing at her.

"Relax, big guy," Flash said with a smile. "I already told you half of it. I tell you the rest later. Right now I want to hear your story."

Kento frowned, but Ryo was quick to answer. "It started over a year ago," he began. "A dark shadow covered Toyoma, and strange things began to happen. An evil ruler, his name is Talpa, came into our world from his world, another dimension called the netherrealm, or the Dynasty. He had the same thing in mind that your enemy had. Take over the world. He had four Warlords helping him. Three you saw today. Venom, who you set fire to. Pretty cool I might add. Corruption and Illusion. The fourth was known as Cruelty. His name was Anubis, but he turned good after our own mentor Kasou, or the Ancient as we refer to him, talked some sense into him. Anyway, we have our own legend. It goes like this. When the earth is covered by a wicked dark shadow, the Ronin Warriors will come to save it. And there's a poem with that too, refering to us. Torch of spirit sought through five, drinking strength from immortal fire, the darkest prison sheds the light, swirling beneath a sea of salt, burning within a throne of rock, floating amongst the eyes of ages, unmoorned in the stream of the sky."

Flash's brows went up with fascination. She was quite intrigued by this. She knew they weren't lying, they had no reason to be lying. She had seen their powers, and wondered why she and the other Warriors hadn't learned about them. Did Chinook know about them?

"So what are your armors' names?" she asked.

"Wildfire," Ryo said.

"Halo," Sage answered, smiling sweetly at her.

"Hardrock," Kento said, stuffing some chips into his mouth.

"Torrent," Cye said, giving Kento a disgusted look.

"Strata," Rowen said calmly.

"OK, let me see if I got this straight. "Drinking strength from immortal fire refers to Ryo. The darkest prison sheds the light talks about Sage. Swirling beneath a sea of salt refers to Cye. Burning within a throne of rock is about Kento. And floating amongst the eyes of ages, unmoorned in the stream of the sky is Rowen."

"You got it, beautiful," Sage said, nodding his blond head.

"Wow, you're smart!" Cye marveled.

"Did you study ancient Japanese?" Mia asked.

"Actually I only studied the language and culture," Flash replied. "One of m friends, another Warriors, she's into reading and studying, so she can figure out a lot of poems. I picked that up from her."

The Ronins nodded their heads. They wondered who Flash's friends were, and she could sense that. She knew she would have to tell them sooner or later, and besides who knew? Maybe the could meet her friends. She smiled slightly as she saw their faces in her mind. Thunder of the Storm. Scorpio of the Current. T-boz of the Fade. Chilie of the Heart. Shades of the Ataxia. Ice of the Shock. And Snow of the Hail. She had no idea what the Ronin Warriors would think once she told them about her friends, but she could only try and see what happens. It was all she could do.


	12. Chapt. 12. Flash's Fear

****

The Power

Chapt. 12. Flash's Fear.

Things were pretty much quiet now in the Koji mansion. Rowen was reading one of his quantum physics book, Sage was off somewhere meditating at usual, Cye was coloring a whale in the coloring book Kento had bought him for his birthday. Ryo and Kento were playing Rampage on the Sega Genisus. And Flash, Mia, and Yulie were outside, with Mia and Flash working in Mia's garden.

"Haha!" Kento bellowed loudly as he attacked the buttons on his controller, causing his big green lizard, (think Godzilla) to punch its fist into a large building, demolishing it with each blow. "Take that, stupid Dynasty building!"

Ryo raised a brow. "Dynasty building?"

Kento nodded as he continued to play. "Yeah, that's right. This evil building is going down in the name of Kento of Hardrock!"

Rowen rolled his eyes. "Brother!" He got up and headed off for his room, hoping he could get some peace and quiet from Kento and his big mouth.

Cye just smiled as he continued to color that big whale. He daydreamed that he was actually swimming with this whale, that he could hear it talking to him. Now that would be weird, he thought.

Outside Flash was admiring a pretty rose while White Blaze and Blaze were playing with Yulie, and trying to keep him out of trouble at the same time. White Blaze had already told Blaze how many times he or Ryo, or one of the others had already saved the kid from danger because he didn't know how to stay out of it.

Flash sniffed the red rose. "This is beautiful," she said, breathing in the scent deeply. She loved the way the fragrance hit her nose. It reminded her of someone very special. Someone she had lost.

Mia chuckled. "I take it you like roses?" she said as she added some water to several flowers.

Flash nodded. "Ever since I was a little girl. I love roses most of all, my second to that would be the daffodils, then tulips, and finally snap dragons."

Mia nodded, and handed the watering pot over to the younger girl. "Would you mind running over to that spicket and getting more water? These flowers are pretty thirtsy today."

Flash laughed. "Yeah, it's hot out." (no pun intended!) She took the pot, and followed Mia's finger pointing to the spicket. As Mia tended to some young flowers, she placed it under the spicket and turned the water on, letting the pot fill up. And then she heard a sound behind her and froze. She moved one ear back to pick up any further sounds, and waited. She heard the noise again, and dared to turn around. And then suddenly she screamed loudly. "SNAKE!!!"

Her foot suddenly shot out, and suddenly the snake was in the air, at least ten feet up and flying.

Inside Ryo, Kento, Cye, and Rowen had heard Flash scream and quickly dropped what they were doing to run outside. Sage was just coming back from the woods where he had been meditating, when he heard Flash scream and took off running as fast as he could for the manor. As he ran, he saw something fly past him, something that reminded him of Sekhmet. He ran even faster and found Mia, Yulie, the other Ronins, White Blaze, and Blaze all surrounding a very shaken up Flash.

"Hey, are you OK?" he asked in concern as he got closer.

Flash did not look at him. She was trembling and and could not stop. She had never expected to see a snake, even though she should have figured that one out. Gardens, lake, woods, snake, hello!

Ryo gently made the girl look at him. "Flash, tell us what's wrong, will ya? I mean we want to help you."

"Yeah, Cye added. "We can't if you don't let let us know what's going on."

"S..snake!" Flash managed as best she could. She suddenly clung onto Sage who was very surprised and not to say, very happy about this. He smirked at the others, and held the beautiful young girl, stroking her soft brown hair. "Shh, its's OK. The snake's gone now. It's OK to be afraid of something. We're all afraid of something."

"Yeah," Kento said, wanting to help. "Cye's afraid of snakes too."

Cye rolled his eyes. "Geeze, Kento, why don't we just let the whole world know?"

Kento shrugged. "OK." He cupped his hands over his mouth. "HEY EVERYBODY!! CYE'S AFRAID….!"

Cye suddenly tackled Kento, knocking the big warrior to the ground in an instant. Mia took one look, and just let it out. Rowen saw it first and burst out laughing, his pale face turning red, Ryo clutched his ribs, very sure they would break if he didn't as he joined in the laughter. Sage had a smile on his face, keeping his laughter inside as he watched the two scruffle on the ground. Flash managed to pull herself together and saw what was going on. She broke out into her laughter, her laughs sounding like bells, at least to Sage anyway. Yulie soon joined in the laughter, even challenging the two Ronins to keep at it.

"Get him, Cye!" he yelled as Cye managed to get the better of Kento, and kept him pinned underneath. Kento was struggling to get up while Cye smirked down at him. "Sorry, Hardrock, this is one fight you can't win!"

"Oh, yeah, says you!" Kento shouted.

Mia finally managed to stop laughing when she remembered Flash. The poor girl had been so white. She herself wanted to know why Flash was afraid of snakes. Sure everyone was afraid of something, but there was always a reason why. She whistled, getting everyone's attention, including the two wrestling teenagers.

Mia looked back at Flash who seemed more relaxed. "Um, Flash, can you explain what happened just a bit ago?"

Flash smirked. "Yeah, sure. Kento was going to tell the whole world about Cye's fear, and Cye tackled him."

Mia stopped. She wasn't expecting that. She saw all six teens with equal grins, and Yulie was just looking at everyone as if he were trying to figure something out.

"I meant when you screamed," Mia said.

"Oh. Why didn't you say so?" Flash said, still wearing that smirk. It quickly went away though as she remembered that ugly dark green snake coming near her. How she hated those things!

"When I was a little girl, about six years old, in fact, a boy threw a snake at me. And yes, I panicked. I mean who wouldn't? No one I know would just go, ahh, a snake! Stop it!" Everyone cracked a smile when she did that. She went on. "And ever since then I've had this terrifying fear of snakes. I can't stand them! They're too leathery, too ugly, and definitely not natural. I mean they can move but they got no legs. That ain't right. It's the devil in disguise. Read the Bible."

"Why didn't you just burn him?" Yulie asked.

Flash laughed weakly. "Gee, I'd would have liked to, but he's my cousin."

"Oh." Yulie's face fell, but then he beamed up at Ryo. "I bet Ryo would have!"

Ryo turned red. "Let's not say we go there, K?"

"Actually," Flash said, brightning, as she let go of Sage. "I got back at him."

"How did you do that?" Rowen wanted to know.

"Well, he had this pet white rat, and so I took some nontoxic rainbow hair dye, and sprayed him with it. Boy, was my cousin frantic! He thought poor Flakes would never be the same again."

"You were only six and you pulled that off?!" Rowen was very surprised.

Flash shrugged. "Hey, my dad taught me a lot about the physical world, while my mother taught the spiritual world. I knew a lot about what chemicals were safe and what chemicals were hazardous." She stopped talking as her eyes caught something lying on the ground. She bent down and picked up the watering pot and placed it under the running water, refilling it. "I can't believe I forgot about this," she muttered

Ryo changed the subject. "Well, everything's OK now, we can all get back to what we were doing."

"Yeah," Kento said as he started back for the manor. "Like me kicking your butt!"

Ryo paused for a second, then chased after the Chinese boy. "Oh, no, you don't, Kento! I'm winning and that's that!"

Rowen watched the two enter the house, and followed behind, determined that he would finish that book even if it took him all night long.

Cye followed behind, wanting to get back to his coloring. Sage stayed a few minutes just to make sure that Flash really was OK. She seeemed to be. She and Mia were both watering and tending to loose flowers as they talked and laughed. He turned and headed for the manor, going inside.

Mia was laughing at a joke that Flash had just told, when she noticed that Flash had gone very quiet and still. Flash turned her head and looked behind her. "Hey, who's white car is that?" she asked.

Mia looked. "Oh, the Yamatoes are here." She stood up and looked around for Yulie. "Yulie, your parents are here!"

Yulie came running up with White Blaze and Blaze. He saw his dad climbing out of the car, and quickly hugged White Blaze good-bye, and said good-bye to Flash and her wolf, then to Mia, making her promise that she would tell the Ronins good-bye for him.

Flash watched as Mr. Yamatoe put his son in the front seat, bowed respectively to Mia, and even to the unknown girl beside her, and drove off immediately.


	13. Chapt.13. Rowen's Wake Up Call

****

The Power

Chapt.13. Rowen's Wake Up Call.

Sage stepped out of the shower, feeling completely renewed. He stepped up to the mirror and gazed at his reflection. "Halo, you are so handsome!" he said as he grabbed his toothbrush and the toothpaste and began brushing his teeth.

A knocked sounded at the door, a loud knock. "Hey, Sage! You about done in there?"

Sage spit out some toothpaste so he could talk better. "Almost, Ryo!"

"Well, hurry up!"

"Alright! Alright!"

Ryo walked away from the bathroom door. He knew that Sage's almost would probably be three hours from now. He passed Cye's and Kento's room. The door was slightly opened and curiosity got the better of him. He peeked in, and saw Cye asleep on his bed, with the covers half way off him, his arm clutching a stuffed orca whale he named Suikio. 

A smile crept to Ryo's face as he walked into the room. Judging from the quiet breathing, he could tell that Cye was fast asleep and probably dreaming about the ocean.

He gently pulled the pale blue covers up on the young Torrent bearer. He stroked Cye's hair in a fatherly like manner. Cye mumbled in his sleep and turned over. Ryo backed away. He did not want to wake Cye up. For one thing Cye had worn himself out today, he deserved the sleep, and second Cye could be very grouchy when someone woke him up too early, and Cye grouchy is not a good thing.

Ryo wisely left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He turned and walked down the hall, heading for his own room. He hoped that Sage would be out of the bathroom by the time he got his nightclothes. If not, then he was going to drag Halo out by his hair, or threaten to cut it all off if he didn't.

Sage came out of the bathroom, dressed in his green pajamas. He saw Flash and Blaze coming up the stairs. Flash had that smirk on her face. "Boy, you must really love yourself, Halo." He blinked in confusion at her as she came to the top of the stairs. She rolled her eyes and grinned. "Halo, you are so handsome!" She snickered.

Sage's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened with shock. "You heard me?!"

"Of course. My ears are supersensitive. It was pretty funny actually. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you're in love with yourself."

He watched as she trotted off for her room. Blaze followed behind, but the wolf looked back at Sage and seemed to shake his head at him. Sage stared, a bit puzzled. That wolf seemed too intelligent to be a real wolf.

The night went on as everyone prepared for bed. Ryo finally got his shower, Kento had his bedtime snack, or in everyone's case, a gourmet meal, Mia headed off for bed, and Sage managed to get Rowen to stop reading for the night. One by one, the lights all went out.

Flash was sleeping already, the jet lag finally having caught up with her. She had been tired earlier, yes, but not too bad. She had learned long ago, how to train herself to control the jetlag in case anything should happen, like an attack. It took her four years to master that technique.

She slept peacefully against Blaze who had crawled into the bed beside her. Thankfully his weight didn't break it. He too was asleep and dreaming about something. Surprisingly Flash was able to sleep right through all the little noises he was making.

Just a few doors down White Blaze couldn't sleep. The big tiger tossed constantly and grumbled a little. His eyes opened, and he glanced at his master, or in other cases, his main charge. Ryo was sleeping, breathing deeply, his chest rising and falling with each breath. For once he wasn't dreaming, which was a good thing. Ryo usually lost sleep when he dreamt, and his dreams were usually nightmares.

White Blaze stood up and stretched a little. He heard some whining and growling noises. Blaze must be dreaming, he thought. Well, I better go make my rounds. He walked over to the door, and pulled it open, and walked out. The first door he came to was Mia's. He gently pushed it open and peered inside. Mia was asleep, safe in her bed. Next came Cye's and Kento's room. Kento was snoring loudly, and White Blaze wondered how Cye could sleep so easily with that freight train in there. He turned and went to the next door.

Inside the room, Blaze awoke, and let out a soft growl, the hairs on his back rising. He saw the door open softly, and his growl deepened.

Relax, White Blaze told him. It's just me!

What are you doing here? Blaze asked as he relaxed.

I'm making my nightly rounds, the tiger answered. Sorry if I disturbed you. I'll leave now. Good-night.

Good-night.

White Blaze left the room, and the wolf hopped down from the bed. He gently closed the door and turned around when he heard Flash moan. She was only turning over in her sleep. He quickly rejoined her, and fell asleep almost instantly.

Morning came and almost everyone awoke to the smell of pancakes, sausages, and bisquits. Kento threw back his covers and quickly got dressed. He brushed his hair and adjusted his yellow headband, and bolted out the door, ready for Cye's great cooking. He bolted for the stairs.

A white, blue, and brown blur flew past him, and he staggered in surprise as it continued down the stairs without missing a step. "Whoa!" he exclaimed.

Ryo appeared beside him. "Fast ain't she?"

Kento nodded, dumbfounded. The scent of delicious food cooking caught his nose once again, and he hurried down the stairs, determined to get a good helping of breakfast.

Ryo followed close behind. He was going to make sure he got something to eat as well, hopefully before Kento ate everything.

Flash and Mia were already at the table, both eating strawberry pancakes and drinking orange juice. Cye was at the stove, making strawberry and blueberry pancakes. Kento quickly grabbed a plate and grabbed at least five servings of blueberry pancakes. He poured himself some juice and sat down at the table.

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Kento. You left one pancake."

Kento looked up, his mouth already stuffed. He was going to say something, but a warning look from Mia shut him up.

Cye smiled. "Not to worry, Ryo. I'm making more. The next pancake is almost done."

Flash looked up from her plate. "Is there going to be more strawberry pancakes?" she asked.

Cye flipped the pancake into the air and nodded. "Yes, a lot more. Ryo likes strawberry pancakes, Kento can't eat them, and Rowen well, he'll just be eating lunch, so he's out, and if Sage Michael Date gets down here in time, he can have whatever.

Flash smiled happily. "Yum. Strawberry pancakes. Can't wait!"

Ryo took the now finished strawberry pancake and carried his plate over to the table and sat down. "I see we've got something in common."

"What?"

"Strawberry pancakes."

Flash nodded. "Besides pizza, it's my favorite."

Sage walked into the kitchen then, and everyone said good-morning. He gave his greeting back as he headed over to the counter. Hm, might as well have sausage and bisquit today. He took his food over to the table, then went to the fridge, poured himself a cold glass of milk, and sat down to eat.

Mia looked at him. "So, Sage, any plans today?"

Sage looked up at her with a blank expression, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "No, not today."

"That's a surprise!" Kento muttered. Sage shot him a look, and Kento looked at him innocently. Mia wisely cut in to keep the confrontation between the two away.

"Good, because you five are going to take Flash into the city. She needs to buy her school uniform and supplies."

"What school will I be going to anyway?" Flash asked.

"Hana High," Ryo answered. "That's where we go."

"You all in the same grade?"

"Well, Cye's in ninth grade," Sage answered. "The rest of us are all in tenth. What about you?"

"Tenth too." Flash are more, then looked around.

"Hey, where's Rowen?" she asked.

"Oh, Sleeping Beauty always sleeps in," Sage replied. "He'll be up by 1:00 P.M."

Flash smirked. "Wanna bet?"

The others just stared at her, wondering what she was going to do. Cye finished cooking, and got himself his own serving. As he sat down, he watched as Flash suddenly slid out of her seat and run up the stairs. He and everyone else gave each other looks. What was Flash going to do?

Flash made her way down the hall, and pushed open the door. She had found Sage's and Rowen's room easily. Good thing she had watched Sage walk into it last night. She looked around the room. Half the room was painted green with bright yellow thunderbolts on it. There was a bed neatly made. Matching green sheets, pillow, and comforter. On the other side, the room was painted blue and a mural of stars, planets, the sun, and moon, and asteroids and comets here and there. Under the blue comforter was a lump.

Flash smiled wickedly. She yanked the comforter off, and stared at the unmoving blue haired teen. She rubbed her hands together. This is going to be fun! she thought. She lifted him up, and dragged him out of the room, and into the bathroom. Through it all he slept. She put him into the tub, closed the shower curtain, and then suddenly turned on the cold water.

Rowen woke with a start. "AUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

Downstairs everyone looked at each other with a surprised look. "Rowen's up," Cye said, just as Flash came trotting down with a smile on her face.

Ryo gave her a look. "How did you do that?" he asked. "It takes us forever to wake him up!"

Flash sat down at the table. "I saw that he needed a shower."

Rowen came down several minutes later. He was dressed, which was a surprise, but his hair was messed up, and he clutched his purple headband tightly in one hand. It was soaking wet.

He gave them all a not very happy look. "Who thought it would be cool to throw me in the freaking cold shower?!"

Flash raised her hand. "Guilty!"

Rowen gave her a look. "You threw me in the shower?!"

"Yep. You five get to take me into the city today, and I wanted to get an early start."

Rowen sat down and nodded. He rubbed his eyes, then glanced down at his headband. "My headband!" he moaned.

Flash rolled her eyes. "Let me see it." Rowen handed it over, wondering what she was going to do. Her symbol lit up, and at first he thought she would set it on fire, but when he noticed that her hair was still, he knew better. Everyone watched as she concentrated. The heat wasn't as bad as it had been during the battle, they noted. It like they were outside on a very hot summer day. In minutes the band was dry and warm. Rowen took it, very amazed. He thanked her, and let it cool just enough to put on around his head.

"Thanks," he said as he adjusted it.

"No prob."


	14. Chapt. 14. Flash's Secret Weapon

****

The Power

Chapt. 14. Flash's Secret Weapon.

Talpa watched on his viewing screen as the Ronin Warriors and that girl made their way down Toyoma. They were talking and laughing as they carefully made their way through the thick crowds.

Talpa's eyes glowed red as a thought came to him. It was time to send someone after that girl, someone that not even the Ronins could beat. He laughed wickedly. Soon he would have that girl and her power!

Flash was telling jokes to her new friends, and all of them were laughing, including Sage who usually kept his laughter hidden. One thing they had learned was that Flash was a comedian. And very good at it too.

"OK, there's this burglar," Flash was saying. "And he's robbing this house late at night. As he's going through the house, searching valuables, he hears a voice coming from somewhere in the darkness. Jesus is watching you. He freezes. He's a little afraid, and so he waits to see if the voice will come again. It doesn't, and he moves, getting more valuables. The voice comes again. Jesus is watching you. He freezes again, a bit more afraid. Nothing happens, so again he moves on. The voice calls again. Jesus is watching you! Now this time he's very terrified, and he stays motionless for a good twenty minutes. Finally he had enough and flipped on the light as he turned around. There in a cage is a white cockatail. The cockatail speaks. Jesus is watching you! The burglar sighs in relief. It's just a Cocky! he says. The cocky gives him a look and said, I might be a cocky, but Jesus is a huge German Shepherd!"

The Ronins burst out laughing. They had never heard that joke before, and hoped she would have more. It sure felt good to be laughing and having fun, rather than fighting the Dynasty, even though Kento considered that fun.

"Well, isn't this entertaining!"

The Ronins and Flash all looked up on the roof of a twelve foot grocery store building.

"Kayura!" Ryo hissed.

"Oh, great, Lady Evil's come to play!" Rowen said with a sneer.

"Who the heck is that?" Flash asked as she stared up at the strange blue black haired girl.

"That's Talpa's best warrior," Cye explained. "Lady Kayura. She's very cunning and dangerous. Not to mention a great fighter. It's just too bad she's on the wrong side."

Kayura laughed as she leapt down and landed safely on the ground. "You think so little of me, Cye of the Torrent! Well, I must say your friend is quite pretty. I'm almost jealous."

"Thank you!" Flash said with a beam.

"Now, girl, are you going to come with me, or not?"

"Where are we going?"

"To Master Talpa."

Flash pounded her fist into her other palm. "Oh, darn! I forgot I made other plans. You'll have to tell _Master Talpa_ that I'll see him on the eve of _NEVER_!"

"Then I'll have to beat you into submission!" Kayura suddenly charged for the girl just as Ryo gave the order to armor up. Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen all armored up and were ready to help Flash. They had fought Kayura before, and it was no easy task. But surprisingly Flash seemed to have no trouble at all. She easily dodged Kayura's attacks, and blocked others. The whole time she was teasing her.

"Is that all you got, girl? Come on! Throw some muscle into it!"

Kayura hissed angrily. "Hold still, girl! How dare you move this quickly!"

"Gee, I'm sorry. NOT!" Flash suddenly kicked her in the torso, sending her flying into the air. Kayura flipped into the air and landed on the hood of a vacant car. "You'll pay for that! Feel the sting of my Starlight Swords! Starlight Swords Scream!"

The attack came quickly, and Flash stared at her, in a bored like manner. She yawned and at the last moment, moved out of the way. A building behind her was destroyed, and Rowen and Sage leapt out of the way to keep from getting buried.

"I hope the owners had insurance on the place," Flash muttered.

"Look out!" Cye cried.

Flash's arm shot out, and Kayura smacked right into it. Flash just shook her head. "I don't get it. Why do you work for someone's that's so evil?" she asked. Before Kayura could answer, she went on. "Judging from the Warlords I fought yesterday, Talpa must be pretty ugly. He's probably so ugly when he was born, the nursemaid slapped his mother!"

Sage's mouth dropped open with shock, Ryo burst out laughing, Cye covered his mouth, Kento smiled proudly, and Rowen just stared. Boy, did Flash have a mouth on her!

Kayura glared at the girl. "No one talks that way about my master!"

"What are you, his dog?" Flash whistled several times. "Here, Kayura! Come here, Kayura! Here, girl!"

More laughter. They finally realized that Flash was making Kayura angry so she would make a mistake and mess up. It was one of her weapons.

"ARRRRGGGHHH!"

"Aw, the poor dog's getting all angry!"

Kayura attacked, and Flash leapt out of her way. She went down on the ground, and swept her leg under Kayura's causing her to lose her balance and fall.

"Whoa!" Ryo exclaimed.

"She's awesome!" Sage said.

"Kayura doesn't seem to stand a chance against Flash!" Cye said.

"She's not even wearing her armor!" Rowen noticed.

"What I want to know, is where she learned how to fight like that," Kento said.

Flash was flipping backwards, avoiding Kayura's deadly Starlight Swords. The Ronins were starting to feel pretty useless, that is until they were suddenly surrounded by 

Dynasty Soldiers.

Ryo attacked with his Wildfire Blades, gutting them as they came at him. He hollered over at Flash just as he punched a soldier into the middle of next week. "You better armor up, Flash!"

"Right!" Flash kicked Kayura away again, and tilted her face to the sky and raised an arm. "Armor of the Warrior! Now come!"

Everyone, except for Sage covered their eyes, as the bright blue and white light covered her, making her completely invisible. When the light faded, she was in her blue and white armor, and gripping her sword firmly.

"So, you have an armor as well," Kayura said carelessly. "Well, it won't help you! Star Swords Scream!"

Flash held the large blade up, and the blade reflected the attack. Kayura dodged out of the way, just barely avoiding being struck.

Rowen's arrows flew through the air, at times he punched a soldier out of his way, and struck others with his bow. He eventually did his famous flying kick, knocking down another soldier, while Sage charged through, swinging his nodatchi left and right, taking down soldiers as he went through.

Kento was laughing as he punched several soldiers oblivion, and took out even more with his naginta. He drew his weapon back and suddenly sent another soldier flying into the air, where it knocked down several other soldiers.

"Surekill time!" Ryo called. He put his swords together, and twirled them around as he leapt high into the air. "Flare Up Now!"

Several soldiers were incinerated by the sudden heat. Rowen joined in next. "Arrow Shock Wave!" Light appeared at the tip of the arrow as he drew it back. It increased and he let the arrow loose. The arrow traveled in a straight line, the light following behind. It struck several soldiers, wiping them out completely.

Cye leveled his Yari out in front of him. "Super Wave Smasher!" The force of the water knocked down the soldiers, and they were swept away. Kento knew it was a good time to bury them.

"Iron Rock Crusher!" he shouted. The ground shook, and it suddenly opened up. The soldiers fell in, and the ground buried them. Kento laughed. "Slam Bay!" he said.

Sage raised his sword high above his head, gaining energy. "Thunder Bolt Cut!" he cried. Lightning shot out from the tip of the sword, and he leapt into the air, air brought the sword out in front of him, sweeping it across his chest. The lightning from the sword, struck several soldiers, causing them to explode.

Ryo looked around. That was the last of the soldiers. "Where's Flash?"

They all looked around. There she was battling Kayura. Their swords locked against each other, and it appeared as if they were fencing. That was far from the truth.

But what surprised them was that Kayura seemed to be losing her control. Usually she was always so calm and cunning. Today, she almost looked like she needed help.

"Is that all you got?" Flash taunted as she easily blocked Kayura's blow. "Dang, an armless person could do so much better!"

"You bitch!"

"A bitch has four legs. I've got two. A bitch says ruff ruff, I say fuck you!"

Kayura screamed angrily. She brought her weapons together. "Star Swords Scream!"

Flash's power suddenly went into action. This time they could not see her hair flying behind her, since it was covered by her helmet. They could however see that flame on her forehead.

Kayura suddenly screamed as a fireball came at her. She had no time to avoid it. It struck her head on, and sent her flying several miles away.

Flash was waving gaily. "Bye! Don't forget to write!" She paused. "On second thought, please do forget to write!"

The boys joined her. Ryo placed on hand on her shoulder. "Are you OK?" he asked.

She smirked. "Why wouldn't I be? I have to admit. She wasn't too bad of a fighter. Just a little messed up in the head."

"You got that right," Rowen said.

Flash armored down, and the boys did too. She rubbed her hands and smiled sweetly at them. "So, gentlemen, about this tour."


	15. Chapt.15. Dias' Suggestion

****

The Power

Chapt.15. Dias' Suggestion.

Talpa was furious that Kayura had failed to catch that girl. He was even more furious when he learned that girl had been insulting him. She would pay once he captured her, even if he had to do it himself. He sat there in his throne, fuming angrily, while tapping his armored fingers against the arms of his thrones, and glaring off into space. His Warlords were silent, and a bit fearful. When Talpa was like this, it was just best to stay quiet, unless you wanted to be sore for the next month and a half. So they did not speak, and neither did Talpa.

Sekhmet sighed impatiently. I wish someone would say something! This is driving me crazy just standing around all day, doing absolutely nothing! I could be fighting with the Ronins, even torturing that Torrent brat!

A wicked smile lit up his face as a memory came to him. It was the time when he had sent his creation Red Torrent after Cye of the Torrent. It was amusing to see that young boy's face when he had learned that there was a duplicate of him. And even more fun when he had dragged an unconscious Torrent into the netherrealm, and presented him to his master. Oh, Talpa had been pleased. Very pleased.

There was an angry grumble, and he looked up. Talpa's eyes were glowing red. All of them gulped. 

"There has to be a way to get that girl!" Talpa fumed, as he finally spoke. "Her power is incredible, and I want it for myself!"

Dias dared to open his mouth. "Master Talpa, why don't you just send us after that girl again, this time with nether spirits? If the nether spirits can keep the Ronins from transforming, I'm sure they can keep the girl from transforming as well. And they might be able to aid us into capturing her for you."

Talpa smiled. "Yes, I like that idea. Very well, Warlords. But this time we will wait. Let's make them think we've backed off a little. We'll attack tomorrow afternoon, and that girl will be mine!"


	16. Chapt.16. Shopping

****

The Power

Chapt.16. Shopping

Flash and the Ronins were in the mall, and the Ronins could not keep smiles off their faces as the young teenaged girl checked out everything in the store. She was highly curious and wanted to explore the entire Toyoma mall.

Sage did not mind. He loved to shop, and he was beginning to think that maybe he and Flash had something in common. To him she was beautiful, more beautiful than the girls he saw at school everyday. Today she was wearing blue jeans, a lightblue sleeveless turtleneck sweater, gold bracelets on her upperarms, she wore a gold necklace with a cross and a robe wrapped around it, and blue and white sneakers.

"So how much did Mia give you?" Kento asked Flash as they walked through the mall. Some of the girls were smiling at Sage, and he winked back which caused them to giggle.

"140,000 yen," Flash answered.

"Wow!" Ryo exclaimed. "She sure gave you a lot!"

"Ryo, you know that girls' uniforms are much more expensive than boy's uniforms," Cye said.

"And I still haven't found a uniform I like," Flash muttered.

Rowen looked at her. "What did you have in mind?" he asked, trying to be helpful.

"Well, for starters, I need to find a pair of gym shorts to go under the skirt. I always wear shorts under my skirts, so that when I'm fighting no one will see my underwear." She ignored their blushing and went on. "Not to mention, is there a certain color I have to have?"

"Well, the uniforms can either be blue and white, or black and white," Ryo said.

"Good. I like blue and white. Matches me."

They all knew she meant her armor, but there were people here, and no one needed to know there were six teenagers who wore mystical armors walking through Toyoma Mall.

Flash finally found a store where they sold girl uniforms. After checking the sizes, she finally chose on a pale blue skirt, a white blouse that buttoned up, and had one pocket near the chest on the left side, and a pair of light blue gym shorts.

"OK," Sage said after they had checked out. "You have your school uniform, now you're going to need shoes, and school supplies."

Rowen knows where the school supplies are," Ryo said.

Rowen shrugged carelessly. "It's my favorite place in the mall."

"You mean it's the only place in the mall you go to," Kento interjected.

"You mean like you and the arcade?"

Kento shut up, not daring to say anything to the Strata bearer.

"OK," Flash said. "Shoes first, then school stuff."

They walked on, finally coming to LeeSeis' Shoes Corner. They went inside. Flash looked around, her mouth open slightly. "Geeze, I thought San Fransisco's mall's shoestore was big!"

Cye smiled at her. "They have about three hundred shoes in here," he explained.

"What?!"

Ryo laughed. "Come on, let's get your shoes. Stick close though. You don't want to get lost."

"Don't worry. I won't!"

They walked through the store, being careful they wouldn't bump into other shoppers. Flash looked carefully at all the shoes. Sage walked beside her.

"You're going to need some flats," he explained, "and they have to be either black or brown."

"Where would the flats be?"

"This way." He took her by the hand and guided her over to a large selection of flat shoes. She looked at each one, looking for her size. She finally saw a pair she liked. They were black flats with a gold braided stripe going across the toes. "Will this be OK?" she asked.

Ryo nodded. "Yeah, that will be fine. I see a lot of girls who have hearts and stars stickers on their shoes."

"Check out time then!" Flash cried happily.

After they left the shoe store, Rowen led them all to the school supplies store which was all the way in the back of the mall. He led Flash over to the school book section and then began to place several schools books into the cart they had grabbed on their way in. "You're going to need this, and this, this, and this." He placed a Japanese history book into the cart, followed by health, science, English, literature, math book, and a regular history book.

"Damn, these books are thick!" Flash said in surprise.

Cye glanced at her. "That was the third time I heard you swear," he said.

"Oh, sorry. I usually swear when I'm surprised about something, or when someone really ticks me off."

Cye nodded. He could remember the few rare times when he had cursed. Not a pretty sight.

"Now you're going to need notebooks, pens, pencils, a calculator, plus a ruler, and a compass."

Flash smirked at Rowen. "You mean that little thing that points out north when you get lost?"

Rowen shook his head. "No, I mean…" He suddenly stopped when he saw that look on her face. "You know what I'm talking about!"

"You're right! I just wanted to see what you'd do," she said with a grin.

Rowen smiled a little, but led everyone over to the next aisle where Flash got her seven notebooks, each with 1000 sheets of paper, her caculator, a ruler, and a compass.

They headed for the checkout counter.

"Are we done shopping now?" Kento asked. "I'm so hungry!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Cye said as he rolled his eyes.

"Now that you mentioned it," Ryo said. "I'm hungry too."

"Ha! See, Cye?"

"Yeah, he's right here!" Flash joked. All of them laughed at Kento's look. Kento frowned and just rolled his eyes. But he had to admit it was a little funny.

They checked out, and headed out of the mall, Flash's shopping now done. Sage and Cye offered to carry some of the bags which she gratefully accepted as she carried the other two. They headed down into the city, talking about everything that came to their minds.

  



	17. Chapt. 17.Fun On The Town

The Power ****

The Power

Chapt. 17. Fun in the Town

Kento took everyone to his parents restaurant. Flash was awed by the place. Mama Faun was kind and surprised Flash by giving her a hug. She then stepped back and looked the girl over. "You are going to get a good meal, child. You are so thin, like Fish!"

"Fish?" Flash raised an eyebrow.

Cye cleared his throat. "That's my nickname."

Flash merely nodded. They were led to the table and Mama had Kento go and get the menus from the back. He returned minutes later and passed them out as he sat down. 

Everyone glanced at their menus. A waiter came to take drink orders. Ryo chose a Pepsi, Sage chose Sprite, Cye chose an orange, Kento chose Root Beer, Rowen chose a Dr. Pepper, and Flash chose a Mountain Dew.

When the waiter left, Ryo looked at Flash. "I though you drank coca cola," he said.

Flash shrugged. "I like other stuff too."

Sage opened his menu to the food section and peered closely at it. He checked each food selection carefully, trying to make up his mind. Everyone else was reading their menus too, except for Kento. He was waiting for the waiter to come back so they could order their food.

By the time the waiter did come, they were all ready to order. Ryo chose a steak with mashed potatoes, and corn, Sage chose chicken bourbon with french fries and rice, Rowen chose a hamburger and fires, Cye chose a small chicken, rice, and fries, Kento chose a three max burgers complete with lettuce, onions, pickles, tomato and cheese with a large helping of french fries, while Flash had a regular size cheeseburger and onion rings. (Ok, no more saying what they're eating. I'm starting to get hungry!)

The waiter took their orders down and went away to fulfill them. Flash took a sip of her drink and looked at Kento. "Your mom's nice," she stated.

"Yeah, she is," Kento said with a smile. "And believe me she'll make you eat everytime you come in here."

"Well, gaining weight might be a problem," Flash said.

"Why's that?" Ryo asked.

Flash shrugged. "I never stay still most of time. Everytime I eat, I always get up and do something." 

"So you increase your bodily movements, and turn that food into energy so you can do what you want physically?" Rowen said.

Kento had a look on his face that said, Translation, please?

Flash shrugged. "Basically. I don't eat that much though. I keep a level diet most of the time. I learned once that too much food on your stomach can slow you down. So I eat small helpings at least three times a day, plus a snack. Now pizza is another story. I could eat that all day!"

Cye was playing with the straw in his glass. He was worried about something, but was afraid to bring it up. Maybe he could ask later.

Their meals were brought and the teenagers dug in.

Once their meals were finished, they said good-bye to Mama Faun, the Ronins led Flash through the city. They went to see a movie, then to the arcade, over to Cye's favorite place, Aqua World where he introduced her to some of his seafriends to the zoo. Flash fell in love with the wolves, and they seemed to like her. The zookeepers were puzzled at this. The Ronins thought it was funny. Rowen convinced them all to visit the library, and Flash ended up getting a card.

She stared at the plastic in her hands. "These things look so different from San Fransisco library cards," she said. It was a small card that had the Japanese symbol for reading, her name, age, and her thumbprint.

"Yeah," Rowen said, "they scan your thumb, then your thumbprint, and if the two match, you take your books."

"Sweet."

Kento looked at her funny. "What's sweet?"

"Oh, that just an expression we Americans have. It means the same as cool."

Kento nodded, and Ryo checked his watch. "OK, it's almost 5:00. We have one more place we could go."

"Let's take her to the dojo," Sage suggested.

Flash's face lit up. "Dojo?"

They went to the Date Dojo, which was really behind Sage's house, located in a three car garage. Mrs. Date welcomed Sage's friends, and greeted Flash warmly. Sage's father was at work, and his sisters, much to his relief, were out with their boyfriends.

After a little chitchat with Mrs. Date, who Flash also learned was a doctor, Sage led everyone to the dojo. 

"You'll like Grandpa Date," Ryo said to Flash as they went into the dojo. "He's very cool."

Flash smiled as Sage looked around. "Grandpa?"

A tall, elderly man came out from a room. He noticed Sage and his friends, and the beautiful girl standing with them.

"Ah, Seiji," he said with a bow. They bowed back, including Flash. "You have returned, and who is this young swan you brought here?"

Flash smiled and held out her hand. "Flash Michaels, sir. It's a pleasure."

Grandpa Date smiled at her. "Likewise."

She looked around. "This is a cool place you got here."

He chuckled. "You like martial arts?"

"Like? I'm a black belt in several areas.

Grandpa Date raised a brow. "Oh, and what areas are those?"

Flash counted them off her fingers. "Karate, Akido, Judo, Taekwondoe, Kendo, Kung Fu, Jiu Jistsu, not to mention kickboxing."

The Ronins all had their mouths hanging open with shock. No wonder why she was able to beat Cale and Dias and Kayura!

Grandpa Date was equally impressed. "I would like to test you, Flash. Would that be acceptable?"

"Hai," she answered. "I didn't bring a gi with me though. Gomen."

"Seiji can show you where the extras are. I'm sure we have one in your size. You may borrow it while you are here."

"Arigatou!"

Sage led Flash to the back room where the martial arts were kept. Flash raised an eyebrow. "Seiji?"

He grimaced. "That's my Japanese name. He's the only one who is allowed to call me that. Everyone else regrets it when they call me _that._"

Flash nodded in understanding. She looked at all the uniforms and checked each one for its size. She finally saw something in her size, a black gi with red trim and belt.

Sage pointed toward the bathroom. "You can dress in there," he said. "I'll wait out here for you."

"Arigatou," Flash said and disappeared into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Ryo, Sage, Kento, Rowen, and Cye all sat on the bleachers, watching as Grandpa Date and Flash prepared to fight.

"This should be interesting," Kento said.

Cye chuckled. "Kento, if it's fighting or eating, it's interesting to you."

Rowen looked over. "Hey, Cye, you forgot to mention videos and video games!"

"Hey!" Kento protested as the others laughed.

Grandpa Date and Flash were eyeing each other carefully. He noticed that whenever his eyes moved on a certain attack spot, her eyes would follow his. Ah, she had been trained well. He launched an attack. A sharp uppercut to the head. Flash's arm was there immediately, blocking it. She then stealthily slid her foot between his ankles, tripping him. He moved one leg back, and pressed his palms flat on the floor as he fell.

Sage's eyes widened with surprise. That was the first time he had ever seen his grandpa thrown to the floor that fast before. _She_ was good.

Flash moved back a little, her eyes never leaving Grandpa Date. He was on his feet again. They moved across the floor, throwing attacks and blocking them. A few times Flash found herself on the floor, but somehow she was always able to bring Grandpa Date to the floor with her. Ryo was impressed.

Finally after an hour of combat practice, Grandpa Date smiled at Flash. "You are an excellent fighter, Flash. Who taught you?"

"Master Chinook. He came from Tokyo, Japan, and moved to San Fransisco several years ago."

Grandpa Date's eyes lit up with recognition. "Would he be about 5'5, with pale blue eyes, no hair, a graying beard and mustache?" 

Flash's eyes got big. "Yes, that's him! How do you know him?"

Chinook and I have been friends for years before Sage's father was born. When you see him or talk to him, tell him that Lei Date says hello."

Flash smiled. "Will do, sir." She bowed in respect to him, and headed off to the bathroom to change. When she returned, she saw that her new friends were talking with Grandpa Date. She waited patiently. Finally Rowen looked at his watch. "We better go before Mia worries."

"Time to go then," Ryo said. They all said their good-byes to Grandpa Date, then to Sage's mother, and left, heading back for the Koji mansion. As they walked along, Flash was sure she would not forget this night.

****


	18. Chapt. 18. School Interuppted.

**The Power**

Chapt. 18. School Interrupted.

On Monday, Flash found herself signing several forms to enroll into Hana High. Her friends were in the auditorium, waiting for her to be introduced to the entire school.

Flash stared at the form as she filled it out. Name- Flash Dawn Michaels. DOB- Aug. 19, 1985. Age- Do the math. Place of Birth- San Fransisco, CA, USA. Mother- Star Angel Michaels. Father- Keith David Michaels. Last School- Aridian High School in San Fransisco, CA.

Flash narrowed her eyes as she continued to fill it out. Geeze, they're nosy! she thought. By the time she finished filling them all out, she noticed that it was 20 after 7. She turned the forms in, then had to answer a few questions, before she was finally able to go to the auditorium.

"Where is she?" Kento muttered.

"Kento, relax," Cye said calmly. "She'll be here."

"Yeah, she has to sign all those boring forms," Ryo added.

Kento nodded and folded his arms. The principal soon came out onto the stage. "Students of Hana High, we have a new student, an exchange student from San Fransisco, California. Please make sure you welcome her."

He stopped talking as the young girl stepped up to the microphone. Everyone got a good look at her. She was tall, beautiful with tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair, her bangs hanging past her eyebrows in sharp points, and cerulean eyes. Several boys immediately found themselves in love.

"Hiya!" the girl greeted with a bow. "I'm Flash Michaels, and it's a pleasure to be here."

She found herself in her first class. The sensei was nice, and so were the students, except for a few, who Flash called snobs.

Cye was in her class and so was Rowen. They were in health class and the sensei was going over the muscular frame.

The students paid attention and wrote down notes. As school went on, Flash made friends, and enjoyed most of her classes.

At lunch time Flash found the cafeteria easily, thanks to a sweet girl named Shia. As she walked through the cafeteria a hand grabbed her arm, and she stopped.

"Yeah?" she said, looking at a jock with pure ice hair and dark blue eyes. Across the room Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye were watching. All of their eyes narrowed. They knew _who_ this kid was.

"Hey, babe, why don't you sit with us?" the kid said with a leering smile.

Flash's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Babe?" She suddenly threw him over her shoulder and pinned him down with her foot to his chest. She glared down at his shocked face, as every student's mouth dropped open. "Don't ever call me, Babe!"

She walked away from him.

Rowen came into the cafeteria a few minutes later just as Flash was getting her lunch. He joined her line and smiled at her. Flash smiled back.

"Hey, do you know who that guy is?" she asked, pointing to the boy she had tossed to the floor moments before.

Rowen nodded. "That's Rufane," he said. "He's a jerk. Has to have the prettiest girls in school. He's jealous of Sage because most of the girls hang around him."

Flash looked over at the table where the other Ronins were sitting. Several girls were around Sage. She smirked. "Flirt King!"

Rowen nodded as they got their lunches. "Rufane won't fight Sage though. He's all talk mostly."

"Why am I not surprised?"

They paid for their lunches, and went to their table.

By the time fourth period rolled around, the school allowed the students to go outside and get fresh air. It was about 1:00 in the afternoon. Sage was talking with some girls, Ryo was talking to a few other boys who were on his soccer team, Cye was doing homework, Rowen was reading, and Kento and Flash were goofing off.

Then they sky turned dark. The monitor looked at the sky, and began to call the students inside. "Let's go, students! It's going to rain soon!"

There were several grumbles as they got up and began to file inside. The Ronins were frowning though.

"This ain't storm weather," Rowen said.

"Dynasty!" Ryo grumbled.

"What do we do?" Cye asked worriedly.

"We have to get away from here," Ryo said. He threw his armor ball and was in his subarmor. The others followed suit, and Ryo led all of them a few blocks away from the school.

"You know, I am _not_ happy!" Flash growled. "They just have to ruin my first day of school!"

They were suddenly surrounded by a hundred soldiers. They jumped into action. Ryo pummeled his fists against several soldiers, right in their faces. Rowen spun through the air, doing his famous flying kick. Kento grabbed a soldier and began swinging it around around, destroying other soldiers in the process. Cye stole a soldier's weapon and leapt through the crowds, taking them out one by one. Sage leapt through the air and landed on a soldier's shoulders. When another soldier came for him, Sage jumped out of the way, and the soldier he had been standing on was destroyed.

"Thank you!" Sage saluted, then took out that soldier.

Flash was rolling along the ground, heading right for four soldiers. She was on her feet, and did a round house kick, taking all four out at the same time.

As the fighting continued no one knew of the army approaching. That is until Flash's symbol went off, and she felt a presence.

She whirled around, staring into the sky. "What are those things?!"

All five Ronins looked up, and groaned.

"Netherspirits!" Ryo hissed.

"Aw, man, they're playing those blasted flutes again!" Kento grumbled. "We won't be able to call our armors!"

"What?!"

"What do we do?" Cye asked, worriedly.

Before Ryo could come up with a plan, the spirits suddenly attacked Flash, going right through her body. She jerked violently.

"NO!" Sage hollered. All of them tried to run for her, but they were frozen in their tracks. None of them could move.

"What is this?!" Ryo demanded.

"I.. I can't move!" Kento yelled.

"Augh!" Rowen screamed. "It's them spirits! They're keeping us from moving!"

"No, really?" Cye asked sarcastically.

"FLASH!" Sage hollered. "Oh, no! She's possessed!"

"That's right, Halo!"

"Cale!"

Before their eyes, the three Dark Warlords and Kayura appeared, laughing their heads off.

"Your friend will soon be ours, Ronins!" Sekhmet said with a laugh.

"And there won't be anything you can do either!" Dias laughed.

"Soon, she will be Master Talpa's!" Kayura sneered.

"Say good-bye to your friend!"


	19. Chapt. 19. Firestarter's Faith

****

The Power

Chapter 19. Firestarter's Faith.

Flash could feel the evil presence within her. They were trying to control her! This wasn't good at all. She was fighting with all her strength. She would not let them control her!

Come on! She thought impatiently. Think! Your friends are in trouble! And then she remembered something.

Her body froze and became still. Everyone though the spirits had finally taken her over. The Ronins' hopes dropped. They felt terrible that they couldn't that they couldn't help her.

This is my fault! Ryo thought. If only I had us armor up, none of this would have been happening! Now Flash is possessed, and there's nothing we can do about it!

Looks like Talpa won. That bastard! Kento snarled silently. I hope he rots in hell for all he's done.

Fight it, Flash! Cye thought desperately. I know you can do it!

Rowen bit his lip as he watched Flash. Sage's head was down and his eyes were closed. He was ashamed and afraid for her.

It was Ryo who first noticed the change in her. Flash was glowing a bluish white color. Her symbol was glowing brillantly. He heard a silent, but firm word. Faith!

Flash's eyes suddenly opened. "Get the hell out of my body!" she screamed angrily.

Several spirits suddenly flew out of her. Flash was taking several deep breaths. They were finally out, thank God! She thought. Then she looked up at the tree Warlords and Lady Kayura, and her eyes narrowed angrily.

"Evil spirits tried to possess me," she growled. "Know what? THAT PISSES ME THE HELL OFF!!!"

Instantly her power went into action. The heat suddenly increased, and her symbol grew bigger and brighter. Her hair flew behind her as if in a fierce storm. Ryo suddenly felt strengthened. Cye felt the opposite, and could only hope Flash would get this done and over with as soon as poosible.

Everyone was sweating, and Dias, Sekhmet, Cale, and Kayura were afraid. They were backing away. Several spirits suddenly exploded into flames and were gone.

"Whoa!" Kento exclaimed.

Rowen finally figured it out. "Her symbol is faith! She can destroy spirits with her power!"

"So that's why they couldn't possess her that easily," Sage said.

Flash was walking toward Talpa's Warlords and Kayura. She was very angry. Cale took out his nodatchi, preparing to run right for her and strike her down. He suddenly dropped it, and yelped in pain, and then his arm was on fire!

"AUUUGGGHHH!" he screamed, racing about and waving his arm like a mad man.

Dias grabbed Cale's cape and used that to put the fire out. His feet began to feel hot, and he looked down, and then let out a terrifying scream. His feet were on fire!

Kento bust out laughing. He knew that fire wasn't funny, but Dias was hopping around, one foot slamming against the other, trying to beat the flames out.

Sekhmet vanished from sight, and suddenly appeared a foot behind Flash. Cye saw him. "FLASH, LOOK OUT!" he cried.

Sekhmet charged for the young girl, his swords held out. He reached for her, and then suddenly regretted doing so. The heat from her body was too much! He backed away, glaring angrily and cursing.

Without turning around, Flash growled, "Unless you want to be a turkey in an oven, I suggest you _leave_!"

Sekhmet was thinking fast. He knew his master would be furious if they didn't return with her. What could he do?

Kayura was thinking fast. It was too dangerous to get the girl now. She had a plan of her own, but first Master Talpa would need to learn of it. "Let's go!" she called to the Warlords.

For once none of them argued with her. Surprising, uh? Only when they were gone, did Flash let down her power.

"I can't believe they left so quickly," Sage said.

"I can't believe we can finally move!" Kento said happily.

Rowen only rolled his eyes. We've been able to move ever since Flash destroyed them spirits, and he realizes it now?

Ryo noticed Sage's worried look. "What's up, Sage? You look worried."

"I am," he admitted. "They'll come up with something, you know. Talpa never gives up."

They all knew that he was right. Somehow, someway they had to keep fighting, and hopefully destroy Talpa once and for all.


	20. Chapt. 20. Homework is Torture!

**The Power**

Chapt. 20. Homework Is Torture!

School was over, finally, and luckily for the Ronins and Flash, none of them had detention. They did have a lot of homework though.

"Man!" Kento groaned. "I can't believe they gave us so much homework!"

"Aw, poor Kento!" Cye teased as they walked on, heading for home.

"Yeah, Kento, do you want some cheese with your whine?" Flash smirked at him.

Kento was puzzled, and the others snickered.

Sage shifted his dufflebag on his shoulder, and sniffed the fresh air. It's such a beautiful day, he thought. Too bad I have all this homework, otherwise I'd go meditate.

As they walked along Flash said, "OK, here's a joke. A few minutes before church services start, the devil comes in. Everybody sees this evil creature, and they all scram for it. All but one man. He's sitting there calmly. The devil sees this and is puzzled. He looks at the man, and says, do you know who I am? The man goes, sure do. You're the devil. Well, aren't you terrified of me? The man goes, nope. The devil says, you do know that I have the power to hurt you? The man goes, I reckon you do. And the devil says, and you're not the least bit afraid of me?! The man says, nope! And the devil asks, why? And the man replies, been married to your sister for 45 years."

The Ronins burst out laughing. When they finally managed to stop, Ryo looked over at her and asked, "Where do you come up with these?"

"I make them up," she replied .

Ryo nodded and covered his mouth again. The next time I'm in a guilt trip, I've got to get her to tell me a joke! She's hilarious! 

They walked on, talking about school, families, and anything else. By the time they made it home, it was after 3.

White Blaze and Blaze greeted them with sloppy kisses. Flash hugged her wolf, and Ryo hugged White Blaze.

Mia came out. "Hey, guys, how did school go?"

"Went well, actually," Rowen said. "Flash made a few friends."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah, and Rufane got thrown over her shoulder!" Kento said with a laugh.

Mia looked at the young girl. "What did he do?"

Flash was taking out her homework. She looked up. "He grabbed me by the arm, and called me babe. I hate being called babe."

Mia nodded slowly. She smiled. "Well, the jerk deserved it then. I've heard of Rufane. Jealous of Sage." Sage flashed a huge smile.

"I know. Rowen already told me."

Mia nodded again, then left them to do their homework. She decided since all of them had so much homework, she would cook instead of Cye.

Cye was rather relieved. He felt it would take him all night to get his homework done.

Ryo was shaking as he did his homework. "Man, I used to think fighting the Dynasty was bad. This is pure torture!"

"Personally, I'd rather do this than fight the Dynasty any day," Rowen said.

"You would, Mr. High IQ Man," Kento said.

Rowen stuck his tongue out.

Sage glanced down at his algebra book and sighed. "Mr. Lei sure likes to give a lot of this. A hundred problems! Sheese!

Homework was done in silence. The only sounds in the living room were the scrapings of pencils, papers rustling, pages turning, and occasional sigh here and there. An hour passed. Rowen was already finished. No surprise there, but Flash was impressed.

Ryo was finished with Science, finally. He took out his next homework. Literature. All he had to do was just read and answer the questions on the review. Not complicated.

Kento's stomach was growling. How could anyone expect him to do his homework when he was wasting away?! He was so hungry! Even his homework looked like a burger.

Cye ignored Kento's stomach as he worked on his geography. His mind was completely on his work, and he wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Still, it was nice that Mia offered to cook so he could complete this large pile.

Yulie came in just then. "Hi, guys!" he greeted.

They all waved hello to him, and White Blaze and Blaze greeted him happily. Mia came from the kitchen. "Hello, Yulie. You have homework?"

Yulie shook his head.

"Well, go outside and play so they can do theirs."

"OK! Come on, White Blaze and Blaze!" The two large animals followed him outdoors.

That was a relief. Yulue could be loud when he played. Ryo was finished with his homework a few minutes later. Kento decided to take a break and see how dinner was coming along. Luckily for Mia, Cye made Kento finish the rest of his homework.

"When it's done, she'll call us, Kento. Finish your homework."

Kento grumbled, but he sat down.

Flash only snickered. Kento reminded her of one of her friends.

A few minutes later a wet Yulie and two wet animals came in. They stared at him in surprise.

"When did it start raining?" Cye asked.

"A few minutes ago," Yulie said.

Cye set down his homework. "Come on, Yulie, let's get you dried off and into some dry clothes." Yulie nodded and followed him upstairs.

Flash got up too. "Blaze, just drip right there. I'm gonna get your towel."

Blaze nodded his heard which shocked Kento. Sage was oblivious to everything. He wanted to get his homework done!

Flash went upstairs and hollered for Ryo. He came out of his room, dressed in a pair of jeans and a red sweater. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Other than the sky, birds, and outerspace, your cat needs dried off. Poor thing's soaking wet."

Ryo nodded, and Flash left. By the time she got downstairs with her wolf's towel, Ryo was already down there, drying off an unhappy White Blaze.

Flash dried off Blaze the best she could. She would have to give him a bath later.

By the time both animals were fairly dried off, and the mess on the floor mopped up, Yulie came back downstairs with Cye, dressed in dried clothes. Cye and Flash returned to their homework as Yulie sat on the floor and ran his hands along both White Blaze and Blaze.

Sage closed his algebra book with a snap. "Finally! Man, I hate algebra!"

"Then why do you take it, Sage?"

"Because, in order for me to graduate I have to, Yulie. You'll have to take it one day too."

Yulie shook his head furiously. "They way you guys complain about it, no way!"

Sage only shrugged and turned to his next homework. English. Oh, what fun.

A half hour later, everyone else was finished with their homework as well. Once everyone was dressed in street clothes, Mia announced it was dinner time.

"YES, FOOD!" Kento shouted.

"Heads up, Mia!" Flash called. "You've got a rhino heading your way!"

The others just laughed at that as they followed Kento in the kitchen.


	21. Chapt. 21. Kayura's Plan

****

The Power

Chapter 21. Kayura's Plan

Talpa sat there, glaring at his Warlords and even Kayura. He could not believe what he had just heard. "Are you saying that girl destroyed my netherspirits?!" he bellowed as his eyes flashed red.

"Yes, Master Talpa," Kayura answered as she lowered her eyes. "It appears she carries the faith symbol, which means she can cast out spirits out of herself and probably out of someone else as well. We don't know. She's a formidable fighter, sire."

"Yes, I know that. And her power could be stronger than the Inferno. I must have that power!"

"Well, there is one way to get the girl," Kayura said with a sly smile.

"Lady Kayura, what are you talking about?" Dias demanded.

"We cause her and the Ronins to fall into a deep sleep. Once they're out, we take her. I'm sure Badamon can cast a spell that will make her unable to use her powers."

"It would be difficult, but I can try," the high priest replied.

"Find a way!" Talpa ordered sharply before turning his attention to Kayura. "Carry out your plan, Lady Kayura. And bring that girl and the Ronins back. We can get the Ronin Armor back as well."

"Yes, master," she said with a bow, and then vanished from the room.

It was in the evening now, and everyone was relaxing. Rowen was reading a book on Astronomy, Sage and Ryo were playing chess. Mia was watching television and sipping tea, Cye and Kento were both playing a card game of Rumme 500, Flash was going through some of her family photos, and Yulie was watching.

"Hey, who are those kids?" he asked, pointing to a boy and girl with light brown hair and blue eyes. They were about four years old and looked alike, except the girl's hair was longer and in pigtails. 

"Oh, those are my half sister and brother, Cammy and Sammy. They're twins."

Ryo turned around and stared strangely at her. "Half?"

"Yeah. Remember when I told you about my mother's and brother's deaths?" They nodded, hearing the melanochy in her voice. "Well, after my dad married Susan, it wasn't long before she gave birth to the twins."

"They look cute," Cye commented.

Flash snorted. "Try babysitting them sometime. They are bad! They love to run from you, and get into all sorts of danger, and Sammy is worse than Cammy!"

"How's that?" Sage asked.

"Well, Sammy's got these Ninja Turtles, and he can't pronounce it yet, so he calls them Inja Urtles. I remember one day he comes up to me and goes, Flashy, where's my Inja Urtles? I'm like, look around! They're everywhere! Don't ask me how many bruises I got just from tripping over one of them. We keep picking them up and putting them in his toyboz, and he just keeps dumping them out again. And another time he comes up to me, and goes, Flashy, kitty's got my Inja Urtle! I go well get it from the cat! And then I hear, reower! Get it from the cat, don't kick it from the cat. Wanna know what he said? It was an accident!"

They chuckled at that.

"And another time I was just doing some homework, and I hear Cammy screaming at the top of her lungs. Sammy had broken her favorite newborn baby dool. Boy were my dad and Susan hacked! So was I! I bought her that doll! So while they were comforting Cammy, I look at Sammy and go, why don't you tear you your own stuff up, Sammy? Get that Barney and those teletubby dolls out of the house. Have you ever seen their videos? They'll make you want to commit suicide! Sammy loves to watch them, and it took a full month just to convice my dad to let me have my own TV with cable in my room."

Kento nodded his head. "Yeah, my little sister, Chua's the same way."

Flash smiled and placed the album away." 


	22. Chapt. 22. Talpa's Victory

****

The Power

Chapt. 22. Talpa's Victory.

Outside, Kayura and the three Warlords stared down at the mansion from the perch above on the trees. All four of them were silent for now. They could see into the living room through the window. Halo and Wildfire were playing some kind of board game, Hardrock and Torrent were playing a game of cards, and from the look on Hardrock's face, it was apparent that Torrent was winning. That infolady they called Mia was watching TV, while Flash and that little brat sat on the couch, watching as well.

"So how are we going to do this?" Cale asked.

Kayura smiled. "Sekhmet, you break in and head for upstairs. Take out the first person to come up there. If it's the brat or that woman take them out, but don't kill the girl or the Ronin(s) who comes upstairs. Use this sleeping powder." Sekhmet nodded, took the small bag, and vanished. Kayura turned to Cale. Hide out behind the house, and make some noises. One or two of them should come out to investigate. When they do, use this to put them under." She handed him a small bag of sleeping powder. Cale vanished.

"What about me?" Dias asked eargerly. Kayura smiled and handed him a small bag of sleeping powder as well. Use one of your illusions to bring out one of the Ronins. And then put him under with this."

Dias nodded, and then frowned. "What of Wildfire's beast and that girl's wolf?"

Kayura only smiled. "Don't worry about them. I'll handle them and the girl. That tiger and that wolf will make two beautiful fur coats." As Dias vanished she laughed softly.

Cye looked up at the clock and frowned. Kento gave him a look. "What's wrong, man?"

"I have to feed Bubbles, Goldie, and Suikus," Cye replied as he climbed to his feet.

"Those are your fish right?" Flash asked as she looked up.

Cye nodded and headed off upstairs.

"Checkmate!" Sage called as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

Ryo looked surprised. "What?! You know Sage I really hate you."

"Thank you, Ryo. I love you too."

At the same time Kento and Flash began to hum. "Da dum dada dum da dum da da!"

Sage covered his face with his hands and mumbled, I am not that way!"

Ryo turned as red as his armor, but manage to answer, "Ditto!"

"Aw, relax," Flash said. "We were just teasing you."

Mia snickered.

Rowen headed down the hall toward the library room where all the books were kept. (duh!) He had just finished reading his astronomy book, and now he wanted something else to read. As he searched the shelves, looking for something he hadn't read (good luck, Rowen. You probably already read all of them!) he heard a noise coming from the backyard. He listened very closely, tilting his head to the side. He shrugged after a bit. "Must been an animal." He turned his eyes back toward the books. Shakesphere, Hummingway, 10000 Ways For a Man to Treat a Woman, Ancient Greek Mythology. He scratched under his nose, and continued searching. Finally he found something worthwild. Galaxies and Neighbouring planets.

He took the book, then frowned. There was that noise again! And it was much louder then before. Without thinking he left the library room and went out the back door to see what was making that noise.

Just as suddenly some kind of purple dust was thrown at him. He tried to dodge it, but he suddenly felt very sleepy. He hit the ground with a soft thud.

Cal stood over him, grinning from ear to ear.

Cye walked into his room and right up to the fish tank. He looked down into the tank and gasped with shock. His fish were dead! "NOOO!" he cried. "Bubbles! Goldie! Suikus!" 

He heard the door shut, and assumed that Kento had come in, but then he heard the lock turn and felt the evil presence. He whirled around.

"Hahahaha! Well, Torrent, how do you like the present I left you? They fed so well on my poison! Hahaha!"

Cye's face went from complete shock to eternal rage. In less than two seconds he slammed Sekhmet up against the wall, ready to rip him to shreds.

"You sonofabitch!" Cye snarled as he clawed the Warlord's face. "You killed by babies!"

Sekhmet punched Cye right onto the floor, then held him down. He remembered the small bag and opened it, pouring the purple powder onto Torrent.

Cye was suddenly exhausted. His last words were, "I hope you rot, Snakeface," before he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Sekhmet quietly laughed as he lifted Torrent and escaped through the window.

Downstairs, Flash was looking up toward the ceiling with her eyebrows raised. "What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?" Ryo asked.

"I thought I heard a noise."

They all listened closely. When the did not hear anything else, they just shrugged, figuring it was imagination. But still Flash was certain she had heard something.

Sage was thirsty. He got up from the second round of chess and walked into the kitchen. He got a drink of water from the sink, then caught something out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the window.

A deer! It appeared hurt too. He set the glass down and went outside. As he neared the deer, the deer watched him, moving just slightly and he was afraid it would run away. 

"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly and gently. "It's OK." He got near the deer and just when he was about to reach out to it, it suddenly vanished.

Sage jumped a little. "What the!" He looked around, puzzled. And then he felt something fall on him. He looked up, seeing Dias grinning at him. He felt very tired. "Dias," he mumbled. "Figures." He hit the ground in a deep sleep.

Kayura smiled down at the sleeping animals before her feet. She had caught them coming back from the woods. They had seen her and charged, and just when they were inches from her face, she blew enough purple powder to put them in a heavy sleep. She summoned a vast of Dynasty soldiers to take the animals into the netherrealm, then she turned and headed for the manor.

Somehow she was able to sneak inside without causing anyone to notice. She was in the basement. She found the airshaft right beside her and an idea popped into her head.

Ryo suddenly yawned. "What time is it?" he asked.

Mia yawned too and looked at her watch. "After 8:00."

Ryo raised his eyebrows as his eyes started to close. "Really? Dang."

"Looks like Yulie fell asleep," Flash said with a smile. He was curled up, his head resting on her lap.

"He seems to like you," Kento said with a yawn. He heard a soft snore and looked to see that Mia had fallen asleep in the recliner. Ryo fell asleep then, and so did Flash, and finally Kento zonked out too.

Talpa was laughing as he stared at his viewing screen. All five Ronins, and the girl, and those beasts were in the Dynasty dungeon, locked tightly in separate cells, and chained very tightly. Kayura had succeeded. He had won. Victory was his!


	23. Chap. 23. Awakening with Shock

****

The Power

Chapt. 23. Awakening with Shock.

A few hours passed before everyone began to wake up. Ryo tried to grab his head, only to find that he couldn't move his arms.

"What the hell?!"

"Ryo, you shouldn't," Sage stopped when he realized that he was chained up. "Uh?!"

"Where am I?" a British voice groaned. Cye glanced sleepily around. "Oh, I've got metal bracelets." He closed his eyes. They snapped open. "Metal bracelets?!"

"Guys, stop yelling," Rowen muttered. His eyes opened, and then he jumped with surprise. "I don't believe this!"

"Uh?" Kento woke up now and saw that he was chained. "Fuck!"

Flash's eyes slowly opened and she looked down at her wrists. "Crap!"

It was then they knew where they were. Talpa's Dynasty Dungeon. At first none of them could figure out how they were captured, until Sage remembered that Dias had poured some kind of dust on him.

"I bet that was sleeping potion!" Ryo said angrily. He tugged at the chains. He was going nowhere.

"Well, well, well, Ronins. Welcome back to the Dynasty."

All of six of them looked up and glared at Kayura. Kayura had a huge smile on her face. She turned to Flash. "And welcome, Firestarter."

Flash smirked. "Nice place you've got here. Great view! Tell me when's the last time you decorated? My little brother's room is way cleaner than this place!"

"Silence!"

"Yes, mother!"

Kayura glared at her, but then smiled. "I am sure you'll enjoy your stay here, Ronins and Firestarter."

"Not really," Flash broke in. "We asked for soft beds, we got bricks. We asked for a room with a view of the mountains and the sea. I want a refund!"

"If you don't shut the hell up, I'm going to stuff a cloth in your mouth!"

Flash's eyes narrowed. "Try it."

Just those words alone was enough to make Kayura think a little. She backed away some, then suddenly smiled evilly. "That reminds me, I had your wolf killed."

Flash smirked. "You liar."

"Uh?!"

"Blaze isn't dead."

"He is too dead!"

Flash just smiled. "I know something you don't know. I know something you don't know!"

"Humph! Well, he may be alive, but mark my words, he and that wretched beast of Wildfire's will become my furcoats."

Ryo heard that and all rage leaped out. He lunged forward, the chains jerking him. "You Dynasty bitch! If one fur is missing from White Blaze, I'll have your head on my trophy wall!!"

Kayura just smiled. "We'll see, Wildfire. Ta ta, Ronins! Enjoy your stay!"

She turned around and began to head for the stairs.

"Um, Kayura?" Rowen called.

Kayura stopped and turned around to look at the Strata bearer. "What, Strata?"

"Since when did you start smoking?"

Kayura frowned at him. "I don't smoke! You boys are pathetic!" She turned on her heel and went up the stairs, leaving the Ronins and Flash alone.

Flash was counting. "10, 9, 8, 7 , 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

"AUUUUUUGGGGHHHH! I'M ON FIRE!!!"

The Ronins all looked at Flash. She had a wicked smile on her face. "Barbecued Kayura anyone?"

"How did you do that without her noticing until just now?" Rowen asked.

"I had to focus on the power, and concentrate just enough so my symbol wouldn't show up on my forehead. I just kept thinking about her back, and willing the fire to go there, and it did."

Rowen nodded, and Kento said, "Look out, Flash! He'll want to use you as an experiment!"

Rowen frowned as Flash said, "Goodie! I get to play a labrat! Tell me, do you have a costume big enough?"

There was some laugher, until Flash said, "That's it! I'm getting tired of hanging around here. How about you guys?" There were five affirmitive nods

Flash stared straight ahead and concentrated. The cuffs on her wrists were getting hotter and hotter until they finally popped open. She did the same thing to the cuffs on her feet. She was free.

The Ronins watched in slight surprise as she walked toward the cell door, and watched as she snapped the lock open with her power.

"Cool!!" Ryo said. Flash looked toward him and then suddenly he was free. Next was Rowen, then Kento, then Cye, and finally Sage.

Except for Ryo, the other four were rubbing their wrists and ankles. Flash smiled sadly. "Sorry about the burns, guys."

Sage reached out to heal them of their burns. "I can take care of this." He glowed green as he concentrated and healed Rowen, Kento, Cye, and himself.

"Now we should see about getting White Blaze and Blaze," Ryo said.

And they sneaked off down the hall, keeping themselves ready for anything.


	24. Chapt. 24. Hallway Battle

****

The Power

Chapt. 24. Hallway Battle

The Ronins and Flash continued to sneak their way down the hall. The Ronins had discovered that their orbs were missing and they had to get them back. They also had to rescue White Blaze and Blaze.

"I swear if Kayura hurts White Blaze, I'll kill her!" Ryo promised as they went up the stairs.

"If I know Blaze he's already figured a way out," Flash said.

Cye looked at her. "What do you mean?" he asked her just as several shadows could be seen. All of them pressed themselves against the walls of the stairs, their bodies tense and ready.

The first soldier appeared. Ryo leapt into the air and knocked it down with a kick to the face. He ran over top of it, with the others right behind him.

"What was your question, Cye?" Flash asked. 

"I asked what you meant when you said that Blaze already figured a way out."

"Well, you see Blaze has very strong teeth," Flash said as they continued to run, "but that's not all. He has a power. I can't tell you where he gets this power from because they might be listening."

Cye nodded. More Dynasty soldiers appeared. This time about thirty of them.

"Uh oh!" Rowen said.

"We can't fight all of them!" Cye cried.

Kento picked up a metal pipe and began bashing the soldiers with it. Flash leapt into action. She frontsnapped kicked one soldier right in the face, sending it flying backward. It knocked three soldiers down putting them all out of commission.

Ryo, Rowen, Sage, and Cye joined in, knowing they could not let their friends fight by themselves. Cye managed to grab a soldier's spear and used it to fight against the soldiers.

Sage used his Kendo experience to take out more soldiers. He threw a soldier over his shoulder and backed kicked another one behind him.

Ryo elbowed a soldier as hard as he could. He was going to have a bruise later. He grabbed another soldier and slammed it very hard against the wall, and then smirked when it crumbled.

Rowen grabbed a swinging chain from one soldier and jerked as hard as he could, causing the soldier to fly around his head. Several soldiers were wiped out in the process. 

Ryo suddenly ducked from the swinging chain. "Hey, watch it!"

"Ooops! Sorry!" Rowen apologized.

"Fore!" Kento suddenly called as he sent another soldier flying through the air.

"Ryo, we have got to get our orbs back," Sage said as he sent another soldier flying. "I'm getting tired.

"I know, Sage. Me too."

Flash frowned . She could see that her friends were getting tired and knew she had to do something. She called on her armor. "Armor of the Warrior! Now come!"

Instantly she was surrounded by that blue and white light. When it was gone she was dressed in her armor and holding her sword.

"You can still call on your armor?!" Rowen asked in shock. He and the others could hardly believe their eyes.

"Yeah. It's a part of me," she said with a shrug. Her sword suddenly moved out to the side, and right through a soldier's face. It crumbled to the ground.

Kento bashed another soldier with his pipe, while Cye thrust his spear through the chest of another. OK, OK, so it wasn't his spear.

Ryo slammed his feet against another soldier causing it to fall on its friends. He jumped and landed on the soldier's face and smashed his feet right through. The broken pieces caused the soldiers beneath to be destroyed.

Flash decided that she had enough. She shed her armor, and her power when into action. The Ronins felt the heat, and Cye, Kento, Rowen, and Sage backed away.

The soldiers realized what the child was going to do. They tried to escape, but it was no good. They were suddenly pieces of smoking ashes.

Flash let her power go, and her hair went down, and that flame in her forehead vanished from sight.

"Let's go!" Ryo said.

"And all of them headed off down the hall again.


	25. Chapt.25. Kayura's Freedom

****

The Power

Chapt. 25. Kayura's Freedom

Sekhmet, Dias, Cale, and Kayura were all in the Dynasty's rec room, watching TV and eating popcorn. Suddenly Talpa's voice boomed over them. "The Ronins, the girl, and those two wretched beasts have escaped! Find them and recapture them!"

No one moved until Talpa sent an energy bolt at them. "NOW!" he yelled.

"Yes, master!"

All four of them headed off, lightly smoking from the energy bolt.

They were still running down the hall. Ryo would be glad to get out of this horrible place. He knew that Mia and Yulie would be awake and very worried about them.

Kento's stomach was growling. When we get out of here, first place I'm heading to is the kitchen, he thought, smiling as visions of food popped in his head.

They raced past a room. Flash suddenly stopped. "Hello, what's this?"

They stopped and looked back at her as she entered the room. Flash looked around. "Oh, cool! Superglue gun, feather pillows, a mini fan. Alright!"

"What's alright?" Kento asked.

Flash grabbed the superglue gun and the mini fan after testing to make sure it worked. She grabbed the feathered pillow.

"Let's go!" she said.

They ran down the hall again.

"What's with all that stuff?" Rowen asked.

"You'll see," Flash said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"And just where do you think you are going?"

They stopped running to see Kayura and several soldiers standing a few feet before them.

"Out of here!" Ryo snapped.

Kayura laughed. "I don't think so, Ryo of Wildfire!"

Jus then there was a ferocious roar and growl. Two large animals leapt over the Ronins and Flash.

"White Blaze!" Ryo cried in relief.

"Blaze!" Flash said happily.

The others were relieved to see them too, but were still wondering how they had managed to escape.

White Blaze was taking down several soldiers. Blaze had knocked down Kayura. She struggled and kicked, trying to get the beast off her.

Blaze growled angrily, then suddenly ripped her amulet off her neck. With one bite the amulet was destroyed.

Kayura blinked as the large wolf got off her. "Where am I?"

Blaze had moved to help White Blaze take out the rest of the soldiers, while Ryo, Kento, Rowen, Sage, Cye, and Flash were all staring strangely at Kayura.

"What she talking about?" Flash asked.

Kayura looked up and noticed them. "Ryo? Rowen? Sage? Cye? Kento?" She looked toward Flash, her eyebrows raising curiously. "Who are you?"

"Whoa! Did she just go down Amnesia Lane or something?" Flash asked.

"She's been freed." Rowen said.

"Freed?"

"When Kayura was wearing that amulet it was controlling her. When Blaze ripped it off her, she was freed," Rowen explained.

"Oooooookaaaay."


	26. Chapt.26. Superglue, Feathers, and a Fan...

****

The Power

26. Superglue, Feathers, and a Fan. (long chapter!) (this is the real chapter! Sorry!)

The soldiers were finally gone. After getting the story from the Ronins, Kayura felt very bad. She apologized to them, and to Flash, and promised she would help them get their orbs and escape. 

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Rowen said. 

Everyone looked back at him and gathered around him. 

Dias let out an impatient sigh. He had been searching through every hall and still he had seen no sight of the Ronins or that girl. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure he wanted to face the girl. 

He ran into Cale. "Any luck?" he asked. 

"No," The Warlord of Corruption mumbled. "I searched every place I could think of, and there's no sign of them. I say we go to the throne room, and let Master Talpa know they've escaped." 

Dias nodded. "Yes, better to get punished now rather than later. Let's go." 

The Ronins had just explained everything to Lady Kayura. Once she had heard the whole story, she apologized to the Ronins and to Flash, and promised to help them get their orbs back and escape. 

"Wait a minute!" Rowen called. "I've got an idea!" 

They gathered around him. 

Sekhmet sighed impatiently. "This is just great!" he muttered. "I've been searching through these stupid halls for an hour now, and still haven't found those whelps!" 

He decided to go back to the throne room. Perhaps Talpa had information on their whereabouts, or maybe the others already recaptured them. 

"Knowing our luck, the pests probably escaped!" He headed for throne room. Once inside, he could see that Dias and Cale were kneeling on the stone floor with their heads bowed. Talpa was yelling at them. 

"You inconfident bakas! Those pests probably already escaped by now and are heading this way!" 

"Master, why should we worry?" Sekhmet asked. Talpa looked up at him and glared. Sekhmet quickly lowered his eyes, but dared to speak. 

"We have the Ronin Warrior orbs. Without them they can't transform." 

"Yes, I know that!" Talpa said impatiently. "But that girl has her power, and Badamon has been meditating for over four hours now, trying to figure out how to keep that girl from using it against us. 

"Master, please tell us where they are," Dias implored. "I know we can capture them!" 

"That won't be necessary." 

All four of them looked toward the entrance. Lady Kayura was leading five chained Ronin Warriors, and carrying an unconscious Flash. 

Talpa began to laugh, very pleased, while his three warlords just stared. 

"How did you capture them?" Cale demanded. 

Kayura chuckled. "Once you put the girl out, the others are very easy to catch." 

Kayura lowered Flash to the floor and stepped back a little. Talpa rose up from his throne. "Now to get a better look at this girl." 

He headed over toward her, grinning triumphantly. He came to her side and bent down to take a closer look at her. 

Flash's eyes shot open suddenly. She pulled the superglue gun out of her pocket and shot Talpa with it. Talpa screamed angrily and staggered back, just as Flash leapt to her feet and grabbed the feather pillow she had been hiding. She ripped it open, and brought out the minifan. 

"Hey, Talpa!" she called. He looked back at her, glaring with anger. "You know what would look good on you?" She smirked. "Feathers!" 

She clicked on the fan, and all the feathers were blown into Talpa's direction. Before he knew it, he was covered with hundreds of feathers. 

"Arrrrrgggghhh!" he bellowed angrily. "Wretched girl!" 

Dias, Cale, and Sekhmet raced for her. At the same time all five Ronin Warriors snapped their chains like snapping a pencil. 

"How did they break those chains?!" Cale demanded when they had realized it. 

Blaze and White Blaze were by Talpa's throne. They had found the orbs, and quickly tossed them to the Ronin Warriors. 

All five caught them, and geared up. 

"That's for us to know, and you to find out," Ryo said coldly. "And you're going to get it big time! Armor of Wildfire! Doa Jin!" 

The others followed suit, all armoring up as Talpa tried to rid himself of the annoying feathers and while Kayura and Flash laughed at him. 

The Warlords had armored up as well, and were battling against the Ronins. There were a thousand soldiers in the throne room, fighting as well. Sage and Cale were battling very fiercely, while Rowen shot down several soldiers with his arrows. Cye was fighting against Sekhmet, constantly leaping to avoid the venom from his blades. Ryo attacked Sekhmet from behind, causing the angry Warlord to whirl around and strike at him. Ryo expertly leapt away with the Warlord in pursuit. 

"Super Wave Smasher!" Cye suddenly called. Sekhmet tried to dodge but the blast of the water sent him flying into the far wall. 

"Way to go, Cye!" Ryo called. 

Cye twirled his Yari and smiled in triumph. 

Kento was getting impatient. Dias had been attacking him with illusions, and if it hadn't been for White Blaze and Blaze he would fallen prey to them. 

"You scum!" Kento snarled as he twirled his naginta between his fingers. "I'll make you pay for your deceptions!" 

"Oh? And how do you plan on doing that, Hardrock?" 

"Iron Rock Crusher!" 

The floor shook very hard, and Dias was thrown back several feet. Cale leapt out of the way, to avoid being taken down by the flying Warlord. 

"Thunder Bolt Cut!" 

Cale turned his head just in time to be slammed into the opposite wall by Sage's surekill. 

"Three down!" Kento said happily. 

"And several more to go," Rowen said. "Arrow Shock Wave!"


	27. Chapt.27.Talpa's Defeat

The Power  ****

The Power 

****

Chapt. 27. Talpa's Defeat. 

The power from Rowen's surekill lit up the throne room brilliantly. Several soldiers were destroyed on impact. Talpa screamed and cursed and tried to grab the nearest person near him, hoping it was that brat. It turned out to be Cale instead. 

Disgusted he dropped the unconscious warlord to the floor. His large hand reached out again, and was suddenly grabbed. Before the person could flip him over, he grabbed them, and held them tightly by the throat. 

"Hey, let go, you godzilla wannnabe!" 

The light cleared and they could all see Talpa holding Flash by the throat. He was choking her, and she was trying to get out of his grasp. 

"Flash!" Kayura screamed. 

Blaze started barking and growling ferociously. He leapt to attack and was kicked back a few feet away. White Blaze roared angrily and attacked too, but he too was thrown back. 

"Let her go, Talpa!" Ryo demanded. 

Talpa only laughed as he continued to strangle the girl. She was going to lose consciousness soon if she didn't get any air. If they didn't act soon she would be dead. 

"Ryo, call the Inferno!" Sage hollered. Without waiting for the others, he charged up and became a ball of green light, and transferred his power over to Ryo. The others followed suit, sending their powers all over to Ryo. 

Ryo felt the incredible power inside him. His Wildfire armor shed, and he was bathed in intense heat as a black armor formed over. Instantly he was covered with flames, and emerged in the White Armor of Inferno. The armor appeared to match all of the other four Ronin Warriors armor combined, but with power and the ability to destroy or save the world. And right now Ryo wanted to save. 

White Blaze was transformed and became Black Blaze. He wore a white armor and carried the Swords of Fervor which Ryo needed. 

Ryo grabbed the sword and began to call on his surekill. Talpa only smiled. He remembered the last time Wildfire used his surekill on him. He hadn't been affected by it, and the girl would only be hurt by it. Obviously these fools weren't very bright. 

"Rage of Inferno!" Ryo screamed. A tunnel of fire suddenly formed and shot right at Talpa. Talpa started laughing until he realized the girl was absorbing the fire. Her body became increasingly hot and that fire symbol appeared in her forehead. 

Flash felt strengthened. Her eyes opened. Her power was flowing through her. Her symbol suddenly came to life on her forehead, and her hair began to blow behind her as her power built and combined with Ryo's power. 

Talpa caught fire, both from Ryo's surekill and from Flash's power. He dropped the girl, and Sage caught her. "Let's get out of here!" he hollered. 

The others followed suit. They escaped from the castle, and with Kayura's help escaped from the netherrealm. They had escaped Talpa at last. Now all they had to do was explain everything to Mia. 

  



	28. Chapt.28. Home At Last

****

The Power

Chapt. 28. Home at Last. 

Ryo stepped up to the front door and reached his hand to the doorknob. Sage was beside him, holding an unconscious Flash in his arms. After that incredible power she had unleashed on Talpa, she lost consciousness. Surrounding them were Cye, Kento, Rowen, Kayura, White Blaze, and Blaze, who kept glancing up at his mistress worriedly. 

Before Ryo could open the door, Yulie suddenly flung it open. "Ryo, you're back!" he cried, then noticed Kayura. "Augh! Kayura!" He suddenly slammed the door shut. 

The Ronins jumped, and Kayura cracked a smile. "He doesn't know." 

Ryo pounded on the door. "Yulie, let us in! Kayura's been freed! She's on our side now!" 

"How do I know you're aren't some illusion set up from Talpa to get me and Mia?!" 

The Ronins blinked. 

"He's been hanging around with you too much, Boy Genius," Kento said. 

Rowen shrugged. 

"Smart kid," someone said. 

Everyone looked down at Flash. "Flash?" Sage called softly. 

"That's my name. Don't wear it out." 

Boy, that was a relief! Flash was awake, but they could tell she was tired, and needed to rest. If only Yulie would let them in. Where was Mia?! Probably upstairs working on the computer or trying to get a hold of Anubis in the Spirit Realm. 

Sage was getting fed up. He used his foot to bang against the door. "Yulie! Open the door!" 

"NO! You're the Dynasty!" 

"Yulie, please! We need to lay Flash down!" Cye implored. 

"And I'm hungry!" Kento tried. 

"Forget it, Dynasty scum!" 

Ryo was getting impatient, and then he remembered something. "Yulie, do you remember when you showed me your scar, near your upper left thigh? When you fell on a chain a few months before we met? And when you showed me your stuffed green frog you called Lucky?" 

"You mean the one my grandpa gave me?" 

Ryo smirked. The kid was definitely smart. "No, the one that your girlfriend gave you." 

"She's not my girlfriend!" 

Everyone laughed as the door flung open, and Yulie leapt into Ryo's arms. "I missed you guys! Me and Mia were so worried! Hey, what's wrong with Flash?" 

"She's exhausted, Yulie," Sage explained as they all went inside. Flash was laid on the couch just as Mia came downstairs. 

"You're back! Where were you? In the Dynasty? How did you escape? What's Lady Kayura doing here?" 

Before she could ask anymore, Ryo led her away to a corner, and began telling her all that had happened. Mia nodded, accepting it, and then smiled at Kayura who smiled back. 

Sage was healing Flash. The others waited as he worked. When the light around him and Flash faded, Flash opened her mouth. "Don't suppose we could order a pizza?" 

Everyone smiled. 

"I'll order!" Cye said with a laugh. 


	29. Chapt.29 Epilogue

****

The Power

Chapt. 29. Epilogue 

Rowen woke with a scream and bolted upright. Flash stood over him with a grin as she held a dripping bucket. "Better wake up, Sleeping Beauty. School!" 

She hopped down and left the room. 

Rowen wiped his face and got up to get dressed. Flash sure was one of a kind. He had never met anyone like her. 

In school, it was mostly the same for them. Going to their classes, paying attention or daydreaming, doing schoolwork, getting homework. Typical schoolday. Eh, not. 

In 8th period, the last class of the day, Flash and Ryo were sitting in Health class. The teacher was instructing the class on the Molecules and cells of the structure of the body, and everyone was paying attention. Everyone but Rufane, the same kid who Flash had sent to the floor earlier that week. He was throwing spitballs at Flash. 

Ryo could see it out of the corner of his eyes. He didn't like what he was seeing at all, but Flash didn't seem to be bothered by it one bit. She was completely oblivious to him. 

She'll probably let him have it later, he thought. 

Rufane suddenly raised his hand. "Mrs. Faulo, may I please get something to drink?" 

The teacher looked up. "Go, and make it quick!" 

Rufane nodded, slipped out of his seat and quickly left the class room. The teacher watched him go, then turned around to write several words on the board. 

Ryo saw Flash open up a bottle of superglue. She stealthily leaned over and poured it all over Rufane's seat. It was a good thing they were in the back of the classroom. No one, but Ryo saw what she was doing. And he certainly wasn't going to rat on her. 

Flash put the bottle away and began writing down the words from the board as if nothing had happened. 

Rufane came back and sat down. Both Ryo and Flash hid a smirk. The class did their vocabulary, some groaning, some not caring, some angry because they had to. 

After a half hour of torture, the bell finally rang, and all the students got up to leave. Flash and Ryo were the first ones out. 

They walked down the hallway. Flash was counting. "3.2.1!" 

"HEY, I'M STUCK!!!" 

Sage, Ryo, Flash, Kento, Rowen, and Cye were all heading for home. The other four Ronins had learned what had happened to Rufane, and they couldn't hide their shock nor stop laughing. 

"I can't believe you glued him to the chair!" Kento laughed. 

Flash smirked and shook her head. "Not glued. Superglued!" 

Their eyes widened with surprise, but they began to laugh. Rufane, in their opinion, deserved what Flash did to him. And they were sure that they still had much to learn about their new friend. 

Flash herself was staring up at the sky with a smile on her face. It was going to be a beautiful day. She looked at her new freinds. "Come one! Let's race!" 

She suddenly took off down the street, becoming a blur of blue, white, and brown. The others just stared in shock. 

"Damn!" Kento said. 

"She's as fast as the cheetah!" Cye exclaimed. 

"Maybe that's why they called her Flash," Ryo said with a shrug. 

"Let's go!" Rowen said, and took off down the street. The others followed suit and were soon racing along with Flash and Rowen. Their laughter filled their air, and people could only stare or move out of the way as six teenagers shot passed them. Most shook their heads. 

Flash and the Ronins didn't care. They had their health, their freedom, and their friendship. And for them, that was enough. And Flash knew that one day, her friends in America, the other Warriors would indeed meet Ryo, Sage, Kento,Cye, and Rowen. 

And they would all become friends. She could not wait for that day. 

And it would come. She would just be patient and live life on with her newest friends, the Ronin Warriors. 

****

End


End file.
